A Shannon resident is calling for urgent change following what she’s described as the worst situation she’s ever seen at University Hospital Limerick.
Niamh O’Callaghan attended the facility this week to support her 83 year-old mother who was receiving treatment for a suspected spinal fracture.
Jean O’Callaghan first presented to Ennis Hospital on Wednesday after sustaining a back injury, she was soon advised that she needed to see a specialist at University Hospital Limerick, where she was transported by ambulance.
Upon arriving to the ED at roughly 5pm, Jean spent over an hour and a half in the care of paramedics, before being placed on a trolley.
Her daughter Niamh who accompanied her on the visit, claims she was placed in a severely overcrowded corridor within touching distance of other patients in an area near a toilet with an unbearable smell and that her mother hadn’t been offered painkillers at any point during her stay and was questioned about the wrong issue during triage.
They eventually left the hospital against medical advice as Niamh claims her mother “would have rather died, than stayed in the undignified conditions”
Speaking to Clare FM’s Morning Focus, Niamh has vowed to take a case against the state if anything happens to her mother Jean.
The MidWest Hospital Campaign, meanwhile, has called for clarity on comments from Limerick TD Willie O’Dea indicating that the HSE is pressing ahead with plans for a new hospital on a greenfield site in Limerick, rather than in Clare or North Tipperary.
Founder Hilary Tonge says the lack of consensus among Government TDs isn’t good enough.
Statement from HSE:
HSE Mid-West cannot comment on individual cases when to do so might reveal information in relation to identifiable individuals, breaching the ethical requirement on us to observe our duty of confidentiality. The matters raised here have been brought to the attention of the relevant management team and it would be inappropriate to comment further.
