Verdict returned at inquest of Mayo patient who drowned after leaving hospital bed

The family of a Mayo man who accidentally drowned after leaving his hospital bed are contemplating legal proceedings against the HSE, their solicitor and senior counsel said this evening.

Roger Murray (Callan Tansey & Co) was speaking at Swinford Courthouse after Pat O’Connor, Coroner for the District of Mayo, returned a verdict of accidental death at the finalisation of a lengthy inquest into the death of Patrick Rowland from Lahardane, Ballina.

Mr. Rowland (69), a father and grandfather, drowned after leaving his bed in Ward B of Mayo University Hospital in the early hours of January 17, 2023.

The temperature was sub-zero at the time and Mr. Rowland, who phoned his son, Cormac, from outside the hospital demanding that he be brought home, was wearing only slippers and pyjamas.

When Cormac Rowland arrived in Castlebar from his home some miles away there was no sign of his father.

His body was discovered two days later in the Castlebar River downstream of the Mayo county town.

Returning his inquest verdict, Coroner O’Connor said it was abundantly clear from the evidence that Mr. Rowland did not want to stay in hospital.

“A hospital is not a prison." the coroner stated.

“Whilst Patrick Rowland was admitted with significant medical conditions he was not detained under the Mental Health Act.

"There are limited powers available to the staff in a hospital to detain a patient.

“Any patient is entitled to take his own view as to whether he wishes to stay in a hospital.

“All the staff in a hospital can possibly do is to try and persuade a patient who should in view of his medical conditions remain in a hospital to stay therein.

“A patient cannot be forced to stay in the hospital. A patient cannot be physically be detained in a hospital.

“Any physical restraint and detention of a patient without consent or the application of medication to restrain a person from leaving a hospital would be unlawful.”

The coroner said that much and all as it is difficult for the family of Patrick Rowland, and indeed the staff in Mayo University Hospital who dealt with him, to accept, it was Patrick Rowland’s own choice to leave the hospital despite this medical best interests.

Members of Mr. Rowland’s family and other relatives packed into Swinford Courthouse for the conclusion of the lengthy inquest – which lasted five days – into the death of their loved one.

Afterwards, Roger Murray, solicitor and senior counsel, (Callan Tansey & Co), said the Rowland family are contemplating civil proceedings against the HSE in relation to all the circumstances relating to Patrick's death.

Mr. Murray said it was the family’s steadfast position that had clinical and non-clinical information been given to hospital staff at handover that Patrick would never have been next, nigh or near a river and the ‘calamity’ would not have happened.

Evidence was given at a previous session of the inquest that on January 15, 2023, Mr. Rowland was admitted to MUH by ambulance and was afterwards diagnosed as suffering from pneumonia and sepsis.

He was put on a trolley in the emergency department and subsequently on a corridor in that area of the hospital for upwards of 42 hours.

Late on the night of January 16 he was transferred to a medical ward accompanied by medical staff and his son, Cormac.

At approximately 12.40 a.m.Cormac Rowland left his father in the ward and travelled home but at 1.13 a.m. he received a telephone call from his father that he was outside the hospital (in slippers and pyjamas) and wanted to be brought home.

When Cormac Rowland arrived in Castlebar there was no sign of his father and an extensive search was mounted which ended two days later when the body of the missing man was discovered downstream from Castlebar in the town river.

Following the conclusion of the inquest today, Cormac Rowland told reporters that the manner in which his father met his end had caused the family great distress and angst.

He claimed that his father hadn’t been compos mentis during his hospital stay, not in the fullness of his mind, a claim denied by hospital staff during evidence.

After announcing his verdict, Coroner O’Connor made a number of recommendations directed at Mayo University Hospital, the Saolta Hospitals Group and the HSE.

He recommended that the hospital guidelines about sepsis and the recording of 'Early Warning Scores' should be adhered to.

He also advised that training should be given to all staff in the hospital on how to deal with patients who express a desire to self-discharge and patients at risk of absconding to include a formal guideline report and record such risk and to ensure such documents form part of the medical record of a patient.

The coroner also made recommendations directed to Mayo County Council which has responsibility for roads, footpaths and amenities in the Castlebar area.

He called for the railing at the bridge where Patrick Rowland’s slipper was found to be fully examined and where necessary appropriate steps be taken to have it identified with suitable warning signs.

He also requested that an appropriate barrier be placed closer to the town on the river so that if a person falls in, the body won’t be carried outside the environs of the town.

Luán ó Braonáin S.C., instructed by Ruth Finnerty, RDJ Solicitors, represented the HSE and MUH hospital staff at the inquest hearing which ran over five days and involved depositions and reports from 31 witnesses.