Mater refuses to comment on death of man

Dublin's Mater Hospital says it cannot comment on an allegation that a man died in the hospital recently after spending the weekend…

Dublin's Mater Hospital says it cannot comment on an allegation that a man died in the hospital recently after spending the weekend on a trolley.

Citing patients' rights to confidentiality, the hospital also refused to comment on allegations that a 76-year-old woman admitted last week with a stroke had to spend more than 30 hours in the emergency department before she could get a bed.

The hospital is believed to have opened its five-day ward at the weekend to accommodate the overflow from the emergency department. Yesterday afternoon, 17 patients were in a queue in the department for beds on the wards.

The latest allegations illustrate the effects of the bed shortage which is plaguing hospitals in Dublin, Kilkenny, Cork and other areas, with patients spending exceptionally long periods on trolleys.

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The man who died in the Mater is said by social service sources to have been brought there from a psychiatric hospital on a Friday at the end of February.

He spent the weekend on a trolley and died on the Monday without getting a hospital bed, the sources say.

The 76-year-old stroke patient was brought to the emergency department on Monday of last week shortly before midday.

"She is obviously becoming anxious and upset, as she is paralysed on her right side and a member of the family is remaining with her constantly, including throughout last night to ensure that she can be kept as comfortable as possible," a family member told The Irish Times on Tuesday afternoon, more than 24 hours later. "They will stay with her tonight again if she has not been moved."

She was moved to a ward at about 7.30 p.m. on Tuesday evening. "It is only when you get caught up in the system yourself that you realise just how bad it really is. It is simply a chaotic system which, in my opinion, does not allow people who are both highly trained and well-meaning to do their jobs as effectively as they could," another family member told The Irish Times.

Another reader e-mailed The Irish Times to say her father, who had a heart attack on Friday week, was taken to the Mater and spent the weekend in the emergency department waiting for a bed.

By coincidence, these cases all concern the Mater. They are, however, typical of cases in the busier hospitals, particularly - though not exclusively - in Dublin, which suffered most from the loss of 3,000 beds in the 1980s which have never been restored.

hospitalwatch@irish-times.ie

Hospital Watch on the Web: http://www.ireland.com/special/ hospital