Tragic victim’s family hope new protocol will save others pain

Date Published: 20-Mar-2009

A set of new protocols and guidelines on hospital policies regarding patients with disabilities may save someone’s life, is the hope of the family of the late Seán Flaherty.
Sixty one year old Mr Flaherty was killed near Bushypark as he walked home to Clifden on the Moycullen Road in February of last year, hours after having been treated for a shoulder injury at University Hospital Galway’s A&E.
Mr Flaherty was deaf following a childhood accident and lived and worked in sheltered accommodation. The Inquest into his death called for protocols and guidelines to be set up at all hospitals to ensure medical staff would be made aware of patients’ disabilities and to ensure they were safely returned home.
The Inquest revealed that none of the A&E staff on the day were aware of Mr Flaherty’s deafness or that he had never been in the city unescorted.
This week his sister, Teresa Flaherty told the Galway City Tribune she welcomed the new
protocols compiled by the HSE adding: “I am very happy with them and I just hope they might save somebody someday.”
The Mayor of Galway City,
Cllr. Pádraig Conneely and a member of the HSE West Regional Forum said it was a pity they hadn’t been in place the day Seán Flaherty died.