The Egas Moniz Hospital, part of the Western Lisbon Hospital Center, has been accused of losing track of a 78-year-old woman for several hours, as reported by TVI/CNN Portugal.
The elderly woman, identified as Elisabete Rodrigues, suffered multiple fractures in a car accident on Saturday morning and was taken to the São Francisco Xavier Hospital in Lisbon.
After three days, she was transferred to the Egas Moniz Hospital for medical examinations.
However, when the woman’s daughter arrived at the facility, her mother was not listed in the records, according to reports.
“I arrived here, and my mother’s name did not appear anywhere. There was no indication that she had been admitted to the hospital. I asked a nurse for help to check the system, and my mother’s name did not appear in neurosurgery. […] I even called the police. No one could tell me anything, and I had already run through all the corridors,” Helena recounted to the television channel.
The daughter then contacted the São Francisco Xavier Hospital, which assured her that the transfer had been completed.
After several hours, Helena found her mother alone in a corridor.
“My mother was there alone in a corridor with a paper on her, […] stating that she had been admitted to this hospital at 12:20, had an MRI at 14:00, and that the MRI department had already sent three emails to the transport service – an ambulance – to take my mother back to São Francisco Xavier,” she said.
The daughter also noted that her mother was “conscious but very hungry” as she had not eaten since Sunday.
The family has stated they will file a complaint against Egas Moniz Hospital.
The Western Lisbon Hospital Center assured that the patient received appropriate care in line with her clinical situation and added that the transfer to the Egas Moniz Hospital had been communicated both to the patient and her designated family contact.
Notícias ao Minuto has contacted the hospital unit and is awaiting a response.
