Family considering filing complaint
A 66-year-old man was found dead in the A&E department of Coimbra University Hospital (HUC) after waiting for more than 12 hours to be attended.
The victim’s family wants an explanation, say reports – and is considering filing a complaint against the hospital.
This is the second case in recent days of people dying in A&E emergency rooms waiting to be seen by a doctor. The first, on Friday, was of the iconic figure who gave soldiers carnations during the April 25 Revolution.
In this second incident, José Pais went to Tábua health centre after what has been described as “a very difficult night”. The day before he had eaten ‘míscaros’ (a type of mushroom) for lunch.
From Tábua, Mr Pais was transferred to Coimbra, where he arrived in the early afternoon.
There then followed the 12-hour wait to be seen, “always with the same response to family phone calls”, says SIC Notícias – indicating that Mr Pais’ family were trying to find out how he one was, considering he was now roughly an hour’s drive away from his local health centre.
At one point, the family was told that Pais had been ‘discharged for abandonment’: the hospital saing he had left the A&E of his own volition… but he was later found, “lifeless”, says SIC, when his wife called the hospital yet again, because she had still not heard from him.
According to SIC, the hospital “has already made it known that it has opened proceedings to find out what happened”.
The family meantime awaits explanations, saying that due to financial difficulties they don’t know if they can even afford to file a complaint.
Source: SIC Notícias
