Politicians have slammed reports of bodies being left to rot on trolleys in an Irish hospital as “appalling”.
University Hospital Waterford consultants claimed body fluids were leaking onto corridor floors due refrigeration shortages.
Sinn Fein health spokeswoman Louise O’Reilly said such neglect should not be “tolerable in a developed country”.
“I cannot imagine what this horrible scenario was like for the bereaved families of the deceased”, she said.
“There can be no excuses for a Health Service that does not treat our deceased with dignity and respect”.
Dead bodies 'decomposing in corridors' of University Hospital Waterford, doctors claim
“This is a travesty, no ifs or buts”.
Alan Kelly health spokesman for Labour described the news as “stomach-churning”.
He said Health Minister Simon Harris and the HSE needed to assure families affected that hospital conditions would improve.
“The scale of the trolley crisis is already demoralising enough for the living, this type of practice must not be the norm for the dead too.“
Parts of the letter signed by consultant pathologists Prof Rob Landers, Dr Fergus MacSweeney, Dr Nigam Shah and Dr Christine Shilling were published in The Irish Times.
“Due to inadequate body storage and refrigeration facilities, most bodies lie on trolleys in corridors, often leaking body fluids on to the floor”, it read.
They added that cramped conditions “expose the public to the noise and odours of a working postmortem room”.
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Some bodies were reportedly so decomposed that their loved ones were left with no choice but to host closed casket funerals.
The South/South West Hospital group said that replacing the mortuary was “priority” for them and the National Acute Hospitals Division of the HSE.
A spokeswoman said developments to the tune of €5 million were included in existing plans from the Department of Health.
Building is expected to begin by the end of the year and take 20 months to be completed.
She added that in the meantime the hospital was “examining arrangements to address the issues raised”.
A spokeswoman for Minister Harris said hospital management had assured him measures were being put in place to control the situation.
She added that the HSE told the Minister that plans for the new mortuary were at an “advanced stage”.
“The Minister has made it clear to the HSE that this project needs to be progressed as a matter of priority and funding will be provided”, she added.
