A DONEGAL man who was vindicated by the Ombudsman of abusive behaviour in Letterkenny University Hospital says his calls to have a fresh investigation into events on the day in question have been blocked by management.
Enda Craig is also calling for an independent historical investigation of complaints made to LUH over the last decade.
Mr Craig was accused of threatening behaviour against a senior staff member when he attended the hospital’s accident and emergency department in May 2019 for a heart related condition.
In December, an Ombudsman’s report exonerated Mr Craig of all allegations made by hospital management. Furthermore, the Ombudsman ordered a review of LUH’s overall complaints handling process, to be carried out by the National Director of the HSE’s Quality Assurance and Verification Division. The Ombudsman stated he wanted to ensure the recommendations in the ‘Learning to Get Better’ report were being “actively implemented at all levels in the hospital”.
Speaking to the Donegal News from his Moville home, Mr Craig said he was entitled to have the matter fully re-investigated, but his attempts to open that channel have so far proved futile.
“There is something fundamentally dysfunctional in the complaints system of Letterkenny hospital. When you go to hospital, you expect that it is going to be recognised that you are in a vulnerable state and that you’re going to be treated with the utmost care and attention, taking note of the fact that you’re probably in your most vulnerable position. When you actually find yourself being treated the opposite, it’s psychologically very difficult.”
Mr Craig said he lodged a one-page complaint with LUH against a senior staff member of the emergency department after he said he was abruptly ordered to leave a cubicle where he was awaiting treatment. He subsequently spent five hours on a metal chair in a location not visible to staff, all while he was waiting for his heart rate to stabilise.
Mr Craig said he was left dumbfounded when he received a 25-page response from the hospital’s manager and director of nursing accusing him of being abusive to staff.
“I had to go through the report twice because I actually thought it was about someone else. The report was based on how I was behaving on the hospital’s CCTV video footage. It showed me walking up and down every 15 minutes, which I did do because I was worried about my heart. It was also claimed from the CCTV footage that I had threatened the clinical nurse manager and entered a plaster room where patients were undergoing medical procedures. I absolutely did no such thing.”
Through a Freedom of Information request, Mr Craig obtained a copy of CCTV. He said upon watching the footage, the claims made by the hospital did not stand up.
“When you slow the footage down and examine it frame by frame I am actually looking at the floor, not at the CNM in a threatening manner as was alleged, as I was worried about my heart.”
Mr Craig contacted Deputy Padraig MacLochlainn, who, having viewed the CCTV, agreed there were questions to be answered.
Mr Craig claims wording contained in a Clinical Incident Report, a legal document, was altered for a new version added to LUH’s 25-page response.
In his response, the Ombudsman said: “In addition, in response to a number of questions, the Hospital informed us it is unclear as to which witnesses were consulted and on what basis they were chosen. Furthermore, it emerged that a number of key witnesses were not consulted about the complaint.”
Mr Craig was also told a ‘Patient Hazard Flag’ could be attached to his medical file in the wake of the incident.
“Applying this would have meant that the next time I attended Letterkenny hospital and my file was accessed by medical staff it would alert them that I was a security risk and staff would have to get hospital security to accompany me into the vicinity of where I was being treated. It would mean that I would be monitored at all times in the hospital and security would accompany me when I was leaving because I was considered a security risk to staff and to patients. They also stated that if hospital security was not available, gardaí would be called upon.”
Mr Craig said he believes that only for securing CCTV footage in an unpixelated format showed clearly the reality of events. He said at a subsequent meeting with hospital management he was told he should never have been given the footage.
Mr Craig wants to see an independent historical investigation of complaints made to LUH over the last decade.
“I have been advised by the Nursing and Midwifery Board that I am entitled to a reinvestigation. This has caused so much stress to me and my family. There is something very dysfunctional about the complaints process in LUH. Is it a culture? Is it embedded? It’s a public hospital paid for by taxpayers’ money. There may be older people or others who have had similar experiences and who have not gone back to the hospital because of that experience.”
Mr Craig pointed out that the care he received in LUH was exemplary. He has attended hospital since the incident and said he has been treated with the utmost care and respect.
The Ombudsman’s final report in December 2021 found fully in Mr Craig’s favour.
“In conclusion, and from our perspective, your calm tenacity, and patience, in pursuing matters and seeking improvements has achieved a positive outcome, not just in terms of receiving an apology, and the retraction of the initial report, but also in the fact that your complaint has provided an opportunity to put things right for other patients and families.”
In documents seen by the Donegal News, a spokesperson for LUH told Mr Craig the hospital was “retracting that letter of response and apologise unreservedly for the factual inaccuracies therein”.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Letterkenny University Hospital said following the Ombudsman’s request, the Office of the Chief Operations Officer and Integrated Operations is undertaking a review of Letterkenny Hospital’s complaint handling processes with the cooperation of the Saolta University Health Care Group.
“It will issue a report on the review to the Ombudsman on or before the deadline of April 1, 2022. Publication of this review will be at the discretion of the Office of the Ombudsman.”
The spokesperson said additionally, a new national standardised Complaints Management System (CMS) has been developed.
“This will capture and record comprehensive complaints data which will provide a greater understanding of trends and issues of concern and will help to prioritise service improvements.”
The spokesperson added that in 2020, of the 15,029 complaints received by the health services, 73 per cent were responded to within the legislative time frame of 30 working days or less.
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