Feeding plan put in place for woman

The HSE has apologised in the High Court to the family of an elderly woman over its failure to properly communicate a care plan devised by a hospital for her which her GP feared could involve her effectively starving to death.

The President of the High Court, Mr Justice Peter Kelly, who described the breakdown as “substandard” and “regrettable,” was told the woman is to be fed by an alternative programme known as comfort feeding, which involves her being fed small amounts of certain foods orally.

The woman has been a ward of court since 2011.