A patient was reportedly found dead with a broken neck on the ground at University Hospital Limerick over the Christmas period.
It is understood the deceased was discovered on the floor next to the trolley he was on in the emergency department.
When contacted this morning about the matter, a spokesman for the hospital stated they could not comment “for reasons of patient confidentiality”.
A full statement released said: “For reasons of patient confidentiality, we cannot comment on individual cases. All serious incidents are managed through the HSE Integrated Risk Management Policy.”
An investigation is underway into the circumstances, according to a report in today’s Limerick Leader newspaper.
The newspaper reports the exact circumstances about when and where the man sustained the injury to his neck occurred.
A source told the paper that the patient was “in an isolated area of the emergency department”.
“It appears nobody saw him fall from his trolley, but he was found on the ground with a broken neck,” they added.
It’s believed the man was found dead in the emergency department just before Christmas.
“An investigation is underway, and there will be an inquest into the matter, where the cause of death will be determined. We don’t know if he arrived here with the injury or whether it was caused by the fall, but there is an investigation and people have given their version of events,” the source added.
According to official trolley-watch figures published by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO), there were 92 patients recorded on trolleys in UHL’s emergency department last Monday, the highest ever on record in an Irish hospital.
It was the second time the record number 92 people were waiting for a bed at the hospital, the same figure was recorded in April last year, the INMO previously confirmed.
UHL is again the most overcrowded hospital in the country today, with (48) patients on trolleys, followed by University Hospital Galway (45), and South Tipperary General Hospital (44).
There were zero patients waiting on trolleys in Nenagh General Hospital, also part of the UL Hospital’s Group, while at Mid Western Regional Hospitals, Ennis, also part of the Group, there were four patients recorded on trolleys this morning. There were also no patients on trolleys at the National Children’s Hospital, Tallaght.
