Family accuse hospital of covering up death

The family of a man who died in Tallaght Hospital after becoming increasingly dehydrated, even as his wife begged nurses to give him water, believe the circumstances of his death have been “covered up”.

Peter Acton, aged 61, from St John’s Grove in Clondalkin, Dublin, died on Oct 3, 2005, after he went into renal failure having been deprived of fluids over a five-hour period despite being diagnosed with dehydration on admission.

Mr Acton became so desperate for water that he begged his wife Lydia to take him home because he “did not want to die” in hospital.

At the conclusion of the inquest into his death at Dublin Coroner’s Court yesterday, Tallaght Hospital apologised to the family and admitted negligence.

However, speaking outside the court, John Burke, Mr Acton’s son-in-law, said the family believed the death was “covered up”.

“We have little doubt that they have covered up Peter’s death because of the nature of his death and we certainly have not got justice today,” he said.

Mr Acton was admitted to Tallaght Hospital suffering from double pneumonia with vomiting and dehydration on Oct 1, 2005.

He was nil-by-mouth and on an intravenous drip. However, when this failed the following afternoon, it was five hours before a doctor replaced it.

As he became increasingly thirsty, his wife repeatedly asked nurses to give him fluids but was told they were waiting on a doctor to reinsert the drip.

The court heard that the medical intern on call repeatedly failed to attend to Mr Acton when paged.

Nurse Aoife Folliard said yesterday that resources were limited in the hospital at the time because it was a weekend.

Mr Acton subsequently went into renal failure. He died the following morning as a result of multi-organ failure due to sepsis caused by pneumonia.

Tallaght Hospital failed to report Mr Acton’s death to the coroner and no autopsy was carried out.

The wrong cause of death was given on Mr Acton’s death certificate.

The Dublin coroner, Dr Brian Farrell, agreed to hold the inquest after a seven-year campaign for an investigation by Mr Acton’s family.

Counsel for the family, John Brennan, petitionedDr Farrell to return a verdict of unlawful death in view of the manner of Mr Acton’s treatment by the hospital.

However, Dr Farrell said Irish law would not allow for such a verdict.

He gave a narrative verdict outlining the facts.

He noted there were several risk factors involved in Mr Acton’s death, including the failure to increase his fluid intake, the period when he was receiving no fluids at all, and systemic issues at the hospital.

In the apology read out in court, Tallaght Hospital “unequivocally” accepted full responsibility for Mr Acton’s “untimely death”.

The hospital stated: “We also fully acknowledge that Mr Acton’s death was due to negligence and in particular the failure to properly address the severity of his condition at the time, combined with the failure to respond to Mr Acton’s deteriorating clinical situation thereafter.”

Measures have been taken to specifically assess deteriorating patients — including an early warning system and allowing nurses to insert canulas for intravenous drips — to prevent a similar incident happening again.

Outside the court, Mr Burke said the family would take legal advice on the outcome of the inquest.

The fight to vindicate Mr Acton has been life-consuming, he said.

“We feel sorry for any other family that goes through this and we wonder how many families have been given the wrong information or answers,” he said.

“How many more reportable deaths are out there that haven’t been reported?”