Meaningful response needed to UHW mortuary conditions
Labour Party Health spokesperson, Alan Kelly TD, has said the HSE and Government officials must react swiftly to remedy the appalling conditions at University Hospital Waterford mortuary.
Deputy Kelly said:
“News reports emerging today that dead bodies are being left on trolleys in University Hospital Waterford are absolutely horrifying.
“A relative passing away can be an upsetting time for any family but to add the conditions in which relatives are getting bodies of loved ones back from UHW is surely adding indescribable levels of grief and hurt into families.
“The conditions described by consultant pathologists in UHW make for absolutely grim, stomach-churning reading. The Minister for Health and the HSE must respond to their concerns in a real and meaningful way with an aim to investing more resources and making the necessary changes needed.
“The people in the catchment areas of UHW – Waterford, South Tipperary, Wexford, Kilkenny will rightly be disgusted by this story. The Government cannot continue to let the healthcare of people in the South-East suffer, whether it be through the lack of cardiac services or now through the lack of mortuary space.
“The Minister and the HSE need to show compassion and respect to the families who have been affected by these awful circumstances and assure them that conditions will improve at the UHW mortuary.
“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. “