THE former partner of an elderly man who died alone and unnoticed on an A&E trolley believes "lessons have not been learned" after a health trust apologised for failings at his inquest.
Thomas (Tim) Quinn (77), who suffered from Motor Neurone disease, spent 22 hours on a trolley after being admitted to the Royal Victoria hospital in Belfast in March 2012.
There was a public outcry when The Irish News revealed how ambulance staff, who was due to transport Mr Quinn to the City hospital, found him dead in an chaotic casualty department.
It further emerged that the Royal’s A&E staff had lost his partner's telephone number and two PSNI officers were sent to inform her of his death just hours after leaving his bedside.
The case led to a ministerial intervention and an overhaul of A&E targets across the north's acute hospitals.
At an inquest hearing earlier this week, Northern Ireland's most senior coroner John Leckey ruled that Mr Quinn had died from pneumonia while waiting on the hospital transfer.
The Belfast Trust's medical director, Dr Cathy Jack, who was not in post during the tragedy, apologised to the Quinn family for his care and "failing to respond in a timely manner".
Dr Jack accepted that the loss of the telephone number had compounded the family’s distress.
"We could have done more and I apologise for that. We can't ever undo this so I have left Mr Quinn’s family with a lot of 'what if’s' and I can't change that, and for that I am truly sorry," she told the court.
An internal probe had revealed that an "opportunity was missed" to treat the pensioner in his dying hours, with no late observations recorded and nursing staff failing to report his deterioration to consultants.
Mr Quinn's 74-year-old partner, who was with him for more than 10 years and is a former nurse, told The Irish News that she had chosen not to attend the inquest due to concerns about the trust's handling of an internal investigation.
She only learned that a review had been ordered into his death at the time through the Irish News.
"I will never forget the terrible A&E conditions that night - and I have no faith in the Belfast Trust as the problems are still continuing in A&E. I don’t think lessons have been learned," the Co Antrim woman said yesterday.
"I’m sorry I ever took him there that night but I thought it was the best place. I stayed with him and washed him and fed him as the place was so busy.
"He insisted I went home for some sleep and in his final hours I think he just lay by himself and nobody checked him. I am still disgusted by the whole thing."
