HSE made man’s partner feel culpable for death

The HSE made the partner of an elderly man feel culpable for his “predictable and preventable death” within 30 minutes of transfer from hospital to a nursing home, even though she had no input into the decision to move him.

As a result of the transfer, on November 23, 2007, the man, who had a history of respiratory failure, died within half an hour of arriving by ambulance at the nursing home — because the level of supplemental oxygen he required was not available.

An independent review by UK-based consultancy Verita said: “At the most basic level, an extremely ill patient was transferred to a setting where, given their requirements and the equipment available on the ground, death was inevitable.