A member of the family of a 70-year-old man who died in Monaghan General Hospital on Friday, after attempts to transfer him to three other hospitals for emergency surgery failed, said last night what had happened was "absolutely disgraceful".
Edward Walsh, a nephew of the late Patrick Joseph Walsh, Aghafad, Killanny, Carrickmacross, said: "We feel very let down by the system. Our uncle should still be alive today. It's just unbelievable."
He said his uncle had been in hospital for the past three weeks at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, where he underwent surgery for a broken hip and a procedure to treat a bleeding ulcer.
He was transferred by ambulance to Monaghan hospital last Thursday. Within hours staff realised he required emergency surgery to stop his ulcer bleeding again. However, emergency surgery is not permitted at Monaghan hospital. Staff attempted to send him back to Drogheda, but that hospital said it did not have an intensive-care bed free, according to Edward Walsh. Neither were intensive-care beds available at Cavan General Hospital or Beaumont Hospital in Dublin, he said.
Mr Walsh, a semi-retired farmer, remained in Monaghan. He was transfused with several units of blood but died the next morning. He was buried yesterday.
Edward Walsh said his uncle was very weak and "wasn't fit to be moved from Drogheda" on Thursday. He said he supported calls by the Monaghan Hospital Community Alliance for an inquiry. "It's absolutely disgraceful what has happened," he told The Irish Times. "It's something that should never have happened."
The lead surgeon at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Mr Finbarr Lennon, said he supported calls for an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the man's death. He said if the patient needed surgery urgently, as was reported, he should have been transferred to Drogheda, even if there was no intensive-care bed available at the time one was requested.
The Health Service Executive said the director of its National Hospitals Office, Pat McLoughlin, had asked for a report on the circumstances surrounding Mr Walsh's death from the head of the northeast hospital network.
The HSE declined last night to comment on the issues raised by Mr Walsh's family in advance of the report being completed.
Peadar McMahon, chairman of the Monaghan Hospital Community Alliance, said the people of Monaghan were angry. His group wants emergency surgery services restored at Monaghan hospital.