Hospital group to examine how patient ended up in Garda station

THE UL Hospitals Group is examining the circumstances to establish how a 72-year-old woman left a hospital and ended up in a Limerick Garda station on Tuesday of last week.

The group has reiterated an apology that was already expressed by staff at University Hospital Limerick to the patient and her family – and pledged to continue to deal with them directly.

However, one of the woman’s daughters believes their concerns about this incident have not been taken seriously.

The woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, is calling on UHL to hire additional security and officially acknowledge this incident shouldn’t have happened. She also wants the hospital to allow an external investigation to ensure it doesn’t happen again.

The woman received a call from officers at Henry Street Garda Station in Limerick at 10.15pm on Tuesday, January 7, to tell her that her ‘extremely confused’ mother was there.

‘It didn’t make sense to me. I would hate if anyone else got the phone call I got,’ she said.

‘It was the same day we were all hearing about the attempted abduction of a 66year-old woman in Dublin.

‘When I was driving into Limerick, the River Watch Patrol were on the bridge. I suddenly thought this could be different if someone else had picked up my mother.’

The mother-of-three was admitted to UHL on January 4 at 4am after collapsing on the floor at her home. She left the hospital from an isolation room in the emergency department, and her daughter can’t understand how no-one saw her leaving this room, getting dressed and walking past security to exit the hospital.

No underlying condition such as dementia has been diagnosed previously, and her mother was returned to the hospital in a Garda patrol car.

The family has received no written acknowledgement or apology from the hospital.

Fianna Fáil TD Timmy Dooley said this case highlights the enormous pressure staff are under in UHL, and said: ‘Hopefully this incident will act as a catalyst for [Health Minister Simon] Harris to provide adequate funding.’

The UL Hospitals Group said the level of supervision required by all patients is determined on a case-by-case basis. It said for reasons of patient confidentiality, it could not discuss individual cases.

‘Hopefully this will be a catalyst’