Reilly to face grilling over nursing home death report

Health Minister James Reilly is to be asked in the Dáil why, after seven years, the HSE has yet to publish a report into the death of a 75-year-old woman at a hospital in Co Cork.

The HSE launched an investigation shortly after Hannah Comber died at the former Heatherside Hospital in Jun 2006.

The psychogeriatric patient had been put in a restraining chair by staff who attached a belt around her waist, but she slipped down the chair and the belt choked her.

Gardaí launched an inquiry, but the DPP said there was no case to answer.

The Irish Examiner recently asked the HSE when it would make the report’s findings public. It refused to comment.

This time last year, the Irish Examiner asked the HSE a similar question.

It said that the HSE has considered the report, the legal advice obtained, and the matter is receiving attention under the terms of the policy disciplinary procedure for employees.

Billy Kelleher, Fianna Fáil health spokesman, will raise the issue in the Dáil.