Woman (91) deemed at high risk of falling found unresponsive on hospital floor, inquest hears

A woman who requested assistance while using a bathroom in a Dublin hospital was found unresponsive and bleeding from her head a minute later after falling, an inquest has heard.
Rosemary O’Neill (91) had been transferred to the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital for assessment from the Beneavin Nursing Home in Glasnevin in January 2022 after a fall.
Upon admission, a CT brain scan showed a small haemorrhage associated with high blood pressure, Dublin District Coroner’s Court heard on Wednesday.
Ms O’Neill was also deemed to be at high risk for falling, with a plan put in place to ensure she was assisted by nursing staff when mobile, primarily when she required the bathroom. Upon being brought to the bathroom on the evening of her admission by nursing staff, Ms O’Neill was told to use an assistance button inside once she was ready to return.
Caoimhe Daly, counsel for the hospital, confirmed CCTV footage shows a light flashing above the bathroom door, indicating assistance was required by Ms O’Neill. However, after waiting for one minute, according to a timestamp of the footage, Ms O’Neill tried to return to her room alone.
Ms O’Neill was discovered on the floor next to a walking frame, unresponsive and bleeding from the back of her head. She was treated immediately by nearby staff.
Garrett Cooney, counsel for Ms O’Neill’s family, said CCTV footage showed no nurse waiting outside the bathroom. However, consultant neurologist Michael Murnane, who had viewed the footage before the hearing, said a nurse could be seen nearby.
Dr Murnane said a CT scan carried out following the fall found a new bleed on Ms O’Neill’s brain, which was typical in trauma cases, and she was transferred to the stroke unit.
In the days following her fall, Ms O’Neill’s health deteriorated and it was not known if this was due to a potential stroke or trauma, amid possible aspiration pneumonia. Palliative care was administered and Ms O’Neill died five days after her fall.
Pathologist Eamon Leen, who carried out the postmortem, recorded the medical cause of death as an intracerebral haemorrhage, primarily caused by high blood pressure, and noted other co-morbidities.
He said it was his opinion that the haemorrhage detected at the time of Ms O’Neill’s admission to the emergency department had grown due to hypertension.
Mr Cooney said Ms O’Neill’s family was “dissatisfied” with this view as the evidence up to the point of the postmortem had supported the view that Ms O’Neill’s health deteriorated greatly as a result of the fall in hospital.
Coroner Aisling Gannon recommended a narrative verdict, to which both parties agreed. She said this would be set out at a later date as well as a medical cause of death.