Nappies offered instead of bathroom

A WOMAN left wheelchair-bound by multiple sclerosis who spent over a month in the Mater Hospital was offered nappies as an alternative to a suitable bathroom because no wheelchair accessible toilet was available.

In addition, a catheter (a tube to drain the bladder) was left in for the duration of her 37-day stay despite the fact that a doctor on her neurology team advised it should be removed.

The woman signed herself out of the hospital one weekend just so that she could go home to shower. This followed a number of requests for assistance from staff who told her they would ‘get to her later on’. The woman said when help didn’t arrive, she washed herself using a cloth and a sink, with little shelter when it came to her modesty.