The HSE has been criticised for not interviewing a whistleblower who flagged major concerns in the care of an elderly patient leading up to her death, almost four years after the complaint was made.

The patient died in 2015 following a "rapid decline" in her health at the HSE-run facility in the South East, with the executive forming an internal review group in 2020 to examine what happened to the patient and whether there was anyone at fault in relation to the decline in her health.

In a protected disclosure submitted in May 2018, the healthcare assistant alleged the patient, a woman aged in her early 90s, was deliberately neglected, resulting in her deterioration over a period of approximately five weeks. The disclosure followed a complaint made by the patient's family.

Severe dehydration

Medical notes taken at the time recorded the woman being severely dehydrated and in an emaciated condition at the end of this period. She wasrushed to hospital and died shortly after.

The delay in interviewing the care assistant has been blasted by TD John McGuinness, who told the Irish Examiner that the whistleblower has been "met with resistance at every level" since, with "little indication of an open and transparent investigation" to date.

He has accused the HSE of trying to "brush away" away the complaint.

In September 2020 the whistleblower was informed by the HSE that terms of reference had been agreed for the investigation and a review was underway. No terms of reference have...

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