Woman with special needs mistakenly locked in bus for seven hours

A care centre for adults with special needs has apologised after one of the women who uses its service was mistakenly locked in a minibus and left at a garage all day.

The young woman, who was supposed to be dropped at the MooreHaven centre in Tipperary town, was found in a distressed state by her bus driver after spending almost seven hours alone in a bus yard at Limerick Junction.

The incident happened on Monday, May 27, and although the woman’s absence from the centre was noted, it was thought she had not turned up and would explain why when she returned.

There was only a small number of people on the bus when it stopped at the centre after 9am. It is not known why the woman was not spotted at this stage.

The HSE has been notified and the chairman of the centre, Denis Kennedy, said it regretted that the woman’s confidence in its service had been damaged.

“MooreHaven very much regrets this incident and the distress caused to our service user and her family,” said Mr Kennedy. “We have apologised unreservedly to our service user and her family for this serious failure.

“MooreHaven has already implemented procedural changes and safeguards to ensure such an error cannot recur and is in discussions with the HSE to ensure procedures are amended where necessary at other centres to avoid a similar incident.”

Con Redican, whose bus company brought the woman to the centre, said he would not comment on the matter.

MooreHaven, which runs occupational training and rehabilitation support, said it had been in touch with the woman’s family.

“The family of our service user have graciously acc-epted MooreHaven’s apology and our assurances for the future,” it said. “MooreHaven, for its part, appreciates the balanced approach of the family to this unacceptable lapse and again restates its commitment to the highest standards of care and to ensuring that an incident such as this, or any avoidable lapse, does not arise in the future.”