A woman patient was found lying on an overturned chair on the floor of her room at St John of God Hospital "as if it had toppled over", the Dublin City Coroner's Court heard yesterday.
Nursing staff attempted to revive Ms Eithne Molloy (34), a former clerical worker at the Department of Health, but she was pronounced dead after being rushed to St Vincent's Hospital on August 28th, 1996.
Ms Molloy, of Monread Crescent, Naas, Co Kildare, voluntarily admitted herself to St John of God Hospital, Dublin, some days before her death.
Her father, Mr James Molloy, said she had suffered from depression for several years and had undergone a stomach operation in May. She had been a patient in St John of God Hospital on previous occasions, he said.
On the morning of her death, her family received a phone call from the hospital saying she was on a "self destructive course" and had been removed to St Vincent's Hospital.
The family were later shown her room on the "high risk" St Peter's Ward and told that she had been checked at 2.10 a.m. and was found at 4.10 a.m.
Mr Molloy told the City Coroner, Dr Brian Farrell, that his daughter had taken an overdose on a couple of occasions during previous months.
Dr Maire Nic Ghearailt, the woman's GP, said Ms Molloy had phoned her three times from St John of God on the day before her death. At 2.45 p.m. she told her she had been asked to stay on at the hospital because of her anorexia and that she was planning to return to work shortly.
During a second phone call at 4.30 p.m., she became hysterical when she learned that her parents had been informed of where she was. She had gone to "elaborate lengths to prevent them finding out", she said. When she phoned again, at 10 p.m., her speech was "slow and slurred" and she described having a fit in the grounds of the hospital. She did not say she had suffered a panic attack, although she was familiar with the term.
Mr Stephen O'Connor, a staff nurse at the hospital, said he had spoken to Ms Molloy at 2.30 a.m. after she left her room to go to the bathroom. She had returned saying she felt she could go to sleep.
At around 4.15 a.m. he found Ms Molloy lying on an overturned chair on the floor of her room. Her head was towards the window and there was a slight trace of blood on the side of her mouth.
Her back was resting against the back of the chair "as if she had been sitting on the chair and it had toppled over". The net curtains had been pulled down slightly.
The hearing was adjourned.