A Limerick family has sought answers from the health service executive over the \u201cdisgusting\u201d treatment of their late dementia-suffering mother at University Hospital Limerick.<\/p>\n
Ita Tobin (83) from Ballynanty died peacefully surrounded by her family at a nursing home on August 23rd last year.<\/p>\n
However, after enduring the heartache of the first anniversary of Ita\u2019s death, last Sunday, her family discovered a video circulating on social media last Monday of an interaction between their mother and a health worker at University Hospital Limerick, prior to her death.<\/p>\n
Ita, who had been battling the brain disease dementia, had been taken into the hospital at the time with a suspected heart attack.<\/p>\n
She had lost her husband Gabriel Hogan, a former fisherman and soccer player with Ballynanty, Pike Rovers and Shelbourne, to a heart attack, 29 years ago.<\/p>\n
In the heartbreaking footage, which went viral on social media, the healthcare worker is heard abruptly telling Ms Tobin, \u201cNo\u201d, after the vulnerable patient politely asks if she can have a cup of tea.<\/p>\n
The health worker is also heard telling Tobin: \u201cYou are crazy\u201d.<\/p>\n
When Tobin asks the health worker what food is on the table in front of her hospital bed, the health worker is heard to reply, \u201cyou can see, so why are you asking?\u201d.<\/p>\n
The mobile phone video footage was recorded by another patient on the same ward as Tobin.<\/p>\n
Tobin\u2019s family said they are \u201ctraumatised\u201d by the video, and they have sought answers from the HSE, the Minister for Health and the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA).<\/p>\n
Tobin\u2019s daughter Aisling Hogan told this reporter: \u201cAs far as I know, over 250,000 people have seen this video online. We want answers, I wouldn\u2019t wish this on anyone; we are devastated and heartbroken.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am numb from it (the video), my mother\u2019s anniversary was only the day before this video surfaced. My niece came across it on TikTok; we don’t know who posted it,\u201d said Hogan.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy brain is going wild. If that other (patient) wasn\u2019t in the room recording…I am sick to my stomach that someone could treat another person like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWith dementia you are loosing the person twice, because in the long run you have lost them before they die.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI am so angry. It\u2019s so maddening, and heartbreaking,\u201d said Ms Hogan.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s disgusting, it\u2019s vile, how can anyone that is supposed to be a healthcare assistant treat somebody like that – it is inhumane,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mother didn\u2019t ask for dementia. She was a very intelligent woman and she did a lot of her community.\u201d<\/p>\n
Paying tribute to her mother, she said: \u201cMam was just an auld dote. Everyone says the same, that she had a heart of gold and that she would do anything for you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery child that came to her door was her grandchild, even if they weren’t, she treated them as if they were her own.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe loved everybody, she was a happy-go-lucky person. It\u2019s just that the disease took her over, but she still smiled, and she was still pleasant.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe loved a muffin and a cup of tea, she lived for her blueberry muffin and tea.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe ran loads of programmes for children in Kileely school, years ago, after she went back to education in her forties, she did her Junior cert and Leaving cert and every adult education class that was going after that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe also helped loan parents out in the community, she set up support groups for them, she was fantastic.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ita Tobin was originally from Kileely, lived in Ballynanty and moved in with her daughter Aisling, at their home in Caherdavin, and then a nursing home, in her final years.<\/p>\n
Tobin said she is satisfied the video footage was recoded in May 2024, and that the healthcare assistant was supposed to have been giving \u201cone to one\u201d care to her mother at the time.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy daughter had only went home for a shower that day, because usually we take (mam) in turns; so my daughter was only gone home for a shower \u2014 And that is the way my mother was spoken to and treated.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hogan said families with loved ones with dementia and other life debilitating conditions are under too much pressure trying to fill gaps in a healthcare system that is not adequately providing professional care.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t be there with them all the time, and sometimes it’s just life that you can\u2019t be there.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you have a job to be at in the morning, you can\u2019t be with your loved one in hospital all night, as much as you want to be.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd everyone in your family takes shifts, and they are then so tired and run-down, it\u2019s actually scandalous, and it is scandalous for what the Department of Social Welfare do for carers – they give them a pittance.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hogan said the health worker must be \u201cheld responsible\u201d for their behaviour towards her mother.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy son has written to the Minister for Health and my daughter has sent an email to HIQA, so we are waiting for them to reply.\u201d<\/p>\n
Out of the 496 patients waiting for a bed on trolleys in overcrowded corridors and wards in hospitals nationally this Wednesday, the majority (84) were waiting for a bed in University Hospital Limerick.<\/p>\n
A number of national health reports in respect of UHL have found the hospital overcrowded and understaffed.<\/p>\n
A new 96-bed unit was opened and staffed at the hospital. However, overcrowding continues there.<\/p>\n
A second 996-bedunit is to be constructed on the grounds of UHL, and a second hospital is planned on a nearby site.<\/p>\n
The Minister for Health, Jennifer Carrol MacNeill, through her private secretary, extended her \u201csincere condolences\u201d to Tobin\u2019s family on their \u201closs\u201d.<\/p>\n
MacNeill said: \u201cI also recognise the distress and hurt that you have described arising from the recent circulation of footage relating to her care.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI can appreciate how upsetting it must have been to become aware of this material, particularly as it emerged around the anniversary of (her) passing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis must have been an especially difficult experience for you and your family, and I recognise the emotional impact that these circumstances have had,\u201d said Minister MacNeill.<\/p>\n
The minister said the \u201cresponsibility\u201d for delivering care and management of the health service rests with the HSE and \u201cI understand that HSE Mid West is examining this matter and seeking to establish all of the relevant facts\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile it would not be appropriate to comment on the specific circumstances of the case while that process is ongoing, I want to assure you that concerns regarding the care, dignity and respect afforded to patients are treated with the utmost seriousness,\u201d added the minister.<\/p>\n
In a statement, the HSE Mid West said: \u201cHSE Mid West is aware of a video circulating on social media which shows an interaction between a healthcare worker and a patient\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe footage is deeply concerning, and the behaviour depicted is wholly unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt falls far short of the standards o dignity, respect, and compassionate care that all patients are entitled to expect.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWork is underway to identify the service involved, as the specific location, date and full circumstances surrounding the incident have not yet been verified.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHSE Mid West is actively working to establish the facts. HSE Mid West takes all concerns regarding patient care and patient safety extremely seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce the relevant service has been identified, the matter will be reviewed in accordance with the HE’s patient safety and incident management framework.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAs enquiries are ongoing, it would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Limerick family has sought answers from the health service executive over the \u201cdisgusting\u201d treatment of their late…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":605502,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[103,397,396,61,60],"class_list":["post-605501","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-health","tag-health-care","tag-healthcare","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/605501","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=605501"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/605501\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/605502"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=605501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=605501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=605501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}