Hospital stops post mortems for safety reasons

PATHOLOGISTS have stopped doing post mortems at Nenagh General Hospital citing health and safety reasons.

As a result, all autopsies from North Tipperary will be carried out at the Mid-Western Regional Hospital in Limerick - a decision condemned by the local coroner.

The Health Service Executive (HSE) Mid-West said it could not justify the money needed to upgrade the mortuary at Nenagh to the required standard.

The HSE has rejected criticisms of the move by the North Tipperary coroner, Dr Louis Courtney, who said the decision would downgrade Nenagh General Hospital.

“It will mean that more than 100 deceased persons will have to be transported from my area in North Tipperary each year for post mortems in Limerick. Relatives and gardaí will also have to travel to Limerick for identification purposes. This will take up to 15 full weeks of a garda working time each year with the time it will take to travel in and out of Limerick,” he said.

The HSE said it would cost €800,000 to upgrade the morgue at Nenagh General Hospital to the required standard.

“This could not be justified to handle the number of autopsies at Nenagh per annum. There is no doubt the move will cause some inconvenience, but this should be limited to one garda in each case, who for legal purposes may have to be present for the coroner’s post mortem,” a spokesman said.

However, the HSE spokesman said the identification process by relatives can continue to be done in Nenagh before the body is brought to Limerick for post-mortem examination.

Clare autopsies were moved to Limerick a number of years ago.

“Any change of practice in Nenagh is automatically treated with suspicion but we hope that if people take time to examine the facts, or actually talk to any of the pathologists, they will see the logic of the change. The inconvenience to the gardaí is regrettable but our main responsibility is to patients and staff,” the HSE spokesman added.

The HSE said the new mortuary at the Mid-West Regional Hospital had ample capacity to cope with the extra work involved in the transfer.