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HSE warned prior to Ballinasloe home resident’s death on road
Galway Bay fm newsroom – Three complaints were made to the Health Service Executive about the resident of a Ballinalsoe home who kept wandering out onto the road and subsequently died after being struck by a car.
Pat Gavin, who lives next door to Hazel Heights, a residential home for people with intellectual disabilities, was giving evidence at Ballaghaderreen Coroner’s Court.
55-year-old Nessa Byrne died when she was struck by a car on the road near Hazel Heights in Ballinasloe on November 5th 2010.
She had an autism spectrum disorder and was unable to speak.
According to today’s Irish Times, Pat Gavin, who lived nearby, said Ms. Byrne would wander into his home and sit down down.
He said both he and his wife were concerned for her safety and felt she was a danger to herself walking on the road unsupervised.
He told the Coroner’s Court that he lodged 3 complaints with the HSE in the months before Ms. Byrne died.
Breda Salmon, a registered psychiatric nurse with the HSE West said that Ms. Byrne had been reported missing 3 times.
She said that the policy is that healthcare be provided in the least restrictive environment and that a latched gate had been installed.
The jury and coroner returned a verdict of misadventure.
The jury recommended that people in State care should be properly be supervised at all times.