Irish Republican News · October 16, 2005

Monaghan anger over hospital tragedy

There have been calls for a full inquiry after an elderly man was allowed to die from a bleeding ulcer in Monaghan hospital.

The 70-year-old man died at Monaghan hospital where he attended on Thursday.

Because the hospital is inexplicably not allowed to carry out emergency surgery, efforts were made to transfer the patient to another hospital. However, he died on Friday after a bed could not be found.

The first attempted to transfer him was to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, where he had undergone previous surgery.

Our Lady of Lourdes had no intensive care bed available and suggested he be moved to Cavan General Hospital, but there was no intensive care bed available there either. Staff at Monaghan hospital also tried to get him to the Beaumont Hospital in Dublin, but its intensive care beds were also full.

The patient continued to bleed and died, despite being transfused with several units of blood at Monaghan hospital.

The Dublin government has recently come under heavy criticism for wasting hundreds of millions of Euros on a malfunctoning computer system for the health services which has now been scrapped.

Sinn Féin Dail leader and Cavan-Monaghan TD Caoimhghin O Caolain has called for an inquiry to cover “not only the immediate circumstances of this tragedy but the disastrous policies which led directly to it”.

He also called for the Hospital to be allowed to go back ‘on call’ to deal with such emergencies.

“There is a state-of-the-art theatre in Monaghan and highly qualified surgical and support staff who are not being utilised because of the official embargo on these services at the hospital. This is an appalling situation which has now led to another tragedy.

“The death of this man is an indictment of disastrous Government policies which are centralising hospital services in a few major locations. Together with the continuing bed shortage in our hospitals this is having fatal consequences.”

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