Son’s body ‘was left for hours in ward’

THE body of a teenager who died after surgery was left in a ward with up to 20 patients for three hours after he died, his grieving family revealed yesterday.

Kenneth Payne, 19, from Ballynanty Beg, died on February 3 at the Mid Western Regional Hospital.

The Limerick Institute of Technology student had undergone an emergency operation for the removal of his appendix hours earlier.

His father, also called Kenneth, said: “We reckon he passed away at 6am and stayed in the same ward of maybe 20 people, for at least three hours.

“All the people in the ward had to put up with the trauma. They shouldn’t have had to put up with that. They were all crying and traumatised. It’s so wrong. There was an old gentlewoman across the way from him, who shook my hand.

“If my mother or father was in there I would not want them to go through that. Then there was Mass said for the family and the only thing that separated us was a curtain.”

The Health Service Executive said the remains of Kenneth were treated with all customary respect and moved into a separate room at the earliest possible opportunity to facilitate relatives.

After surgery, Kenneth was transferred to a recovery unit in the theatre suite before being moved to a ward.

The HSE spokesman said all necessary and relevant information on Kenneth would be released to the family subject to the directions of the coroner who will hold an inquest.