“From the preliminary assessment carried out internally, there is no indication or suspicion that calls into question the quality of the services provided, as the patient abandoned the service”, reads a note sent to Lusa by the administration of ULS do Algarve, which is part of the Algarve University Hospital Center (CHUA).

The family of the victim, who died less than 48 hours after being taken to Faro hospital, where he was seen by a doctor, will ask for compensation of 500 thousand euros from CHUA, his lawyer, Alexandre Martins, told Lusa.

The case dates back to June 16, 2022, when Robert Patrick Byrne, 27, who was on vacation in the Algarve, was taken by ambulance to the hospital complaining of abdominal pain, but ended up leaving the unit after a few hours.

The Board of Directors of ULS do Algarve expressed solidarity with the family, “naturally regretting this personal tragedy”, but stressed that it was unable to comment on the case, as proceedings are ongoing in court.

As the victim's parents' lawyer, Alexandre Martins, told Lusa, the death was certified less than 48 hours after Robert was seen by a doctor at Faro hospital, in the early hours of June 18, already in Dublin, Ireland.

The family is asking the Centro Universitário Hospitalar do Algarve (CHUA) and the doctor who treated him for compensation of 500 thousand euros, alleging that the unit failed to provide him with adequate care, which led him to leave the hospital without knowing that he was running the risk of dying.

“The patient is a layman, he didn’t speak Portuguese and no one spoke English to him so he could understand what was happening”, said the lawyer in statements to Lusa, saying they believed that if the doctor who saw him had continued with the care, Robert would not have died.

According to the family, the clinician “had at his disposal all the means considered necessary for the patient to be treated and not die”, but “he omitted the appropriate response he should have given to the case”.

Related article: