High Court orders hospital detention of man with dementia

A man with dementia and other serious health conditions is to be detained in hospital by High Court order due to concerns his life would be “in jeopardy” if removed from there.

A hospital multi-disciplinary team was of the view the man, a widower in his 70s, lacks capacity and requires long-term care, David Leahy BL, for the HSE, said. The team believed his discharge home is not appropriate for reasons including his health situation, he is a significant falls risk and there are concerns over how some of his adult children interact with him.

Some of the children have substance abuse issues and the man’s pension payments had been suspended due to concerns about where they were going, counsel said.

Since the man was admitted to hospital last November following a fall while intoxicated, there was only one “welfare-motivated” contact to the hospital from one of his sons, counsel added. Another son had contacted the hospital seeking to be paid for doing his father’s laundry.

Some of the children had said they wanted to bring the man home but the hospital opposed that and had concerns about the motivation seeking to have him brought home. Family members had also failed to attend meetings organised by the hospital to discuss the man’s future care but had sometimes later turned up without notice to the hospital.

Mr Leahy said he would have liked to have set out the man’s own wishes but, arising from his dementia, he lacked insight and had been unable to understand questions or communicate his views, counsel said. He was unable to retain information given to him and doctors considered that was a permanent condition.

Doctors who assessed the man were of the view, due to his dementia and other health conditions, he was of unsound mind and lacked capacity to make decisions concerning his welfare and finances. They considered he needs 24-hour care and close clinical supervision in light of his dementia and other health issues, including possible stroke disease and epilepsy.

Mr Justice Mark Heslin said on Friday he was satisfied, on the evidence, including about the man’s health conditions and the “complex family history”, the orders for hospital detention were “entirely appropriate” and necessary at the moment to protect the man’s best interests.

The orders were sought in the context of proceedings to consider whether the man should be made a ward of court and the judge has directed an independent medical visitor should carry out a capacity assessment on the man and report to the court.