Pair torn apart after 58 years together
JOHN and Verona Moynihan know they haven’t many years left and want to spend their precious time together.
But two months ago doctors decided Mrs Moynihan was too ill to go home. So, after 58 years as a couple, they are unlikely to live together again in their Napier house.
Mrs Moynihan, who turned 80 on Friday, has dementia and other medical problems. But her husband has cared for her for years and insists he is still capable and should be free to do so. A team of doctors at Hawke’s Bay District Health Board disagrees, and the matter may end up in court.
These days Mr Moynihan visits his wife each morning at the Princess Alexandra rest home, where he often finds her sobbing in the driveway, pleading to come home.
She has not been allowed home since a visit to her doctor on January 12 for stomach pain. Concerned at her condition, the doctor sent her to Hawke’s Bay Hospital, where John Gommans and other specialists assessed her and said she needed long-term, round-the-clock hospital care. She was kept in hospital until two weeks ago, when she was admitted permanently to the rest home. She is now allowed home for five hours a day. On her birthday she was allowed eight hours.
Mr Moynihan disputes the doctors’ assessment of his wife and says the decision on where she lives should lie with him, as he has the power of attorney for her personal care and welfare.
The fit and able 83-year-old, who spends his days renovating the couple’s Bluff Hill house, says he understands the doctors’ view, ‘‘but surely the decision on how Verona wishes to live her life should be ours.
‘‘This is awfully distressing for us. Mentally it is breaking her.’’
He would be happy to compromise and have carers come to help him, but says the health board did not consider it an option. He is now considering legal action.
Mrs Moynihan had both legs amputated when she was 13. She used to compete in paraplegic games and in 2003 she was awarded a QSM for her years of work with disabled people.
Last month Mr Moynihan had his lawyer write a letter demanding his wife be discharged.
Dr Gommans said he empathised with Mr Moynihan and it was his preference to have patients at home if it was safe.
‘‘He’s a very dedicated man and his love for her is obvious to all of us. The problem is we have a duty of care and there is a difference between what someone wants to do and what is physically possible.
‘‘One of the difficulties for Mr Moynihan is the power of attorney has limits. It cannot refuse standard medical treatment to save someone’s life or prevent serious harm coming to them.
‘‘It is a dreadful dilemma for Mr Moynihan to be in.’’
Dr Gommans said he would go to court to keep Mrs Moynihan in care. ‘‘I’d be negligent in my duties if I didn’t.’’
Civil liberties lawyer Michael Bott said Mr Moynihan appeared to be able to care for his wife and to seek help when she needed it.
‘‘I think people in a situation like this couple may well think twice about getting medical help because they may find the hospital steps in and breaks up the family unit. You may end up with elderly people afraid to seek medical care.’’