Probes into patient’s death following ‘assault’ at UHG

Galway City Tribune – Three separate investigations are underway into the circumstances surrounding the death of a pensioner at University Hospital Galway some days after she broke her hip in an alleged assault by an ‘aggressive’ patient in the Emergency Department.

It is understood authorities at the hospital and Gardaí have launched separate investigations into the death of the 74-year-old woman, who endured an ordeal in the overall hospital system, and in particular the Emergency Department (ED), in the days leading up to her passing in late September.

Galway West Coroner, Dr Ciarán MacLoughlin, is also inquiring into the matter and an inquest will be held.

The family of the Connemara native, who lived for most of her life in the city, have sought answers as to what exactly happened to their mother, while in the care of the public hospital.

In an official complaint lodged with UHG, it is alleged that the woman was assaulted by a fellow patient in the ED early one morning last month.

She was allegedly thrown or flipped out of the trolley she was lying on, in the overflow area of the ED, and broke her hip when she hit the floor.

“Why was my mother left unattended with an aggressive patient free to roam around the ED? How is it possible that there was nobody there to protect my mother? My mother was brought to the ED to get health care and we believed she was safe, but unfortunately this wasn’t the case. How many more families have had similar incidents?” her daughter said in an interview with Galway City Tribune.
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