INVESTIGATIONS ARE underway after a man was found dead with a suspected broken neck next to the trolley he had been placed on in the Emergency Department of University Hospital Limerick.
The middle-aged man, who was in an isolated area of the emergency department, was found dead on the ground beside his trolley just before Christmas, The Limerick Leader reports.
The hospital are refusing to comment on the incident for reasons of patient confidentiality, but a medical source told the newspaper, "it appears no one saw him fall from his trolley, but he was found on the ground with a broken neck".
“An investigation is underway, and there will be an inquest into the matter, where the cause of death will be determined,” a high-ranking medical source told The Limerick Leader.
“We don't know if he arrived here with the injury or whether it was caused by the fall, but there is an investigation and people have given their version of events.”
Last week, Ireland had its worst-ever day on record for the number of patients forced to lie on trolleys in hospitals throughout the country.
760 people were left without a bed, far surpassing the country's last record during the 'Beast From The East' snowstorm in March 2018, which saw 714 people on trolleys.
University Hospital Limerick, which consistently has the worst performance with regards to trolley overcrowding, was again the worst-hit hospital, with 92 patients without a bed.
