Protocol reviewed

ST VINCENT’S Hospital in Dublin agreed to review its protocol for discharging vulnerable patients after a probe by the Ombudsman into how it handled the discharge of a chronically ill homeless man from Bangladesh.

The community group Cairde complained that the 45-year-old, who suffered from conditions including diabetes, TB, heart disease and chronic hepatitis, was discharged from St Vincent’s in 2008 by taxi to the Asylum Seekers’ Unit in Dublin’s inner city, where he was given money to source accommodation for himself.

He ended up sleeping on the floor of a friend’s house and had to be re-admitted to another hospital the next day. He died there three weeks later.

Cairde pointed out that the man had difficulty walking and was unable to care for himself.

St Vincent’s told the Ombudsman that the patient had failed to attend appointments and his condition could have been successfully managed if he had complied with the advice he was given.

However, Cairde maintained he was not made fully aware of his condition as he had a poor understanding of English, despite having lived in Ireland for seven years.

The hospital was unable to provide documentation to support its claims an interpreter had been present on occasions.

As a result of the complaint, St Vincent’s said it had introduced and developed a language interpretation policy to ensure effective communication with non-English speaking patients.