Campaigners in Waterford have said residents are still angry over the Taoiseach’s comments about the mortuary at the county’s hospital.
Pathologists at the hospital have twice warned that bodies are being allowed to decompose on trolleys in corridors and on the mortuary floor due to a lack of capacity.
The claims were contained in two letters from consultant pathologists to the South West Hospital Group.
Varadkar
On a visit to the county this week, the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said there was no evidence to back up the claims – with the Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA) expressing its alarm at the Government’s response.
He yesterday twice refused to apologise over his reaction to the revelations – but said he did regret if his tone suggested he was discouraging whistleblowers in the health service.
“The only thing I said in recent days is that there were different accounts,” he told a press conference.
“I didn’t want to be calling any staff member dishonest.”
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar twice refuses opportunity to apologise to pathologists at Waterford Hospital.
Varadkar says he does regret if his tone suggested he was discouraging whistleblowers in the health service & he wasn’t calling any staff member dishonest. pic.twitter.com/Oh9iYmA7R7— Seán Defoe (@SeanDefoe) May 3, 2019
Three separate protests against the crises in the health service are due to get underway around the country this afternoon.
In Wexford demonstrators will gather at 12pm to demand action on mental health services in the county, while in Limerick protesters will gather at 1pm to voice their anger over the trolley crisis.
"Mortuary disaster"
A protest in Waterford at the same time was originally supposed to focus on the trolley crisis – however organisers have said it will now focus on “our mortuary disaster.”
Still Waiting South East spokesperson Una Dunphy said people are still angry over the Taoiseach’s decision to “put question marks over whether it was a true story or not.”
“We, as the public of Waterford, totally support our consultants in their dire situation at the moment,” she said.
“I think there was a little bit of a rollback on [the Taoiseach’s comments] but it wasn’t a sincere apology.
“So we want to say that we will stand over anybody who tries to whistle blow or tries to rectify a situation that is intolerable.”
"Almost unspeakable"
The original letter from the consultants, which came to light at the end of last month, warned that bodies had been left to decompose in hospital corridors, “leading to closed-coffin funerals with relatives unable to view the remains as a result of gaseous decomposition.”
"The trauma imposed on the bereaved is almost unspeakable," it said.
The second letter, which came to light yesterday, said a “surge in activity” had seen bodies left to lie on floors in the mortuary.
The second letter sent by pathologists to the South-West Hospital GroupIn the wake of last week's report, the South/South West hospital group said a mobile refrigerated unit will be on site within the next two weeks.
Planning permission for a new mortuary at Waterford Hospital was granted in 2016.
The Government hopes to open a new facility by 2021.
