Gary Crowley, 35, required urgent attention at Tallaght University Hospital in Dublin but endured an 11-hour wait while in pain before dying from a cardiac arrest, an inquest heard
A man coughing up “coffee brown blood” died in pain after an 11-hour wait in a hospital’s A&E when he needed “urgent” attention, an inquest heard.
Gary Crowley, 35, suffered a fatal cardiac arrest on September 21, 2021. Earlier, he had contacted his sister expressing distress over intense body pains and feeling ignored by the nursing staff. An inquest at Dublin District Coroner’s Court held an inquest was told Tallaght University Hospital was grappling with severe overcrowding and a shortage of staff when Gary was admitted.
While he should have been prioritised for immediate care there was confusion after triage staff received conflicting versions of the patient assessment system, leading to his needs being underestimated. Claire Crowley recounted how her brother, who lived with their parents, called her on the morning of September 20, 2021, feeling ill but reluctant to worry their mother, Anne, who was travelling to Lourdes that day. The inquest also heard that Mr Crowley had been on anti-blood clotting drugs for years due to deep vein thrombosis.
Mr Crowley, who was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and struggled with heavy drinking, had been unwell for days before his admission to TUH. He had consumed a bottle of rum daily in the three days leading up to his hospitalisation, reported DublinLive.
Ms Crowley intended to take her brother to hospital but found out their father had already taken him due to the severity of his condition. Unable to be at the hospital herself due to Covid-19 restrictions, Ms Crowley recounted a phone call around 7pm where her brother expressed feeling neglected by the nursing staff.
At that time Mr Crowley was in severe pain, suffering from an irregular heartbeat, expressing a desire to lie down. The last message Ms Crowley received from him came at 10.30pm, reading: “Don’t worry. I’ll be alright.” The lack of communication from the hospital regarding her brother’s condition was a point of contention for Ms Crowley. She spoke of the profound impact his passing had on the family, especially their father, Gus, who has faced repeated hospital visits since his son’s death.
Ms Crowley emphasised the importance of justice for Gary, saying: “If we can get some sort of justice from this for Gary, it would prevent something like this from happening to another person.”
Ms Crowley disclosed that her family was alerted by an off-duty nurse, Danielle Connolly, who was in the emergency department and had noticed Mr Crowley in distress, coughing up “coffee-brown blood”. She alleged that Ms Connolly had twice attempted to alert staff at a nursing station about Mr Crowley’s condition, suggesting his care should be prioritised over her own relative, but was dismissed.
Dr Gavin Sedgwick, a senior house officer at TUH at the time, confirmed that Mr Crowley was in distress and he had prescribed IV fluids for him, which he examined at 11.05pm. Staff nurse, Danilo Garin, admitted that he had been unable to administer the IV fluids until around 1am.
Mr Garin explained his delay was due to difficulties in finding another nurse to approve the medication administration, owing to staff shortages and a heavy workload. He described finding Mr Crowley lying on a trolley in distress when he arrived with the IV fluids, and the patient suddenly became unresponsive.
He immediately sought assistance, but attempts to resuscitate Mr Crowley were unsuccessful and he was declared dead at 2.45am. A consultant in emergency medicine, Aileen McCabe, stated that the treatment given to the patient was appropriate, but conceded: “Unfortunately it was delayed.”
Coroner Clare Keane, upon delivering a verdict of death by misadventure, extended her heartfelt apologies to Mr Crowley’s family for the pain, suffering, and loss they are enduring. She also recognised the “extremely challenging conditions” staff at TUH were operating under.
