Elderly woman alleges sex attack in male ward

South Tipperary General Hospital apologises after partially naked elderly man ‘pinned woman to bed’.

South Tipperary General Hospital has apologised to an elderly woman who allegedly suffered a sexual assault when she was a patient in a male ward.

The 87-year-old woman was allegedly assaulted in her bed by a man in his 70s who was in the same ward as her. The man is still in the hospital but has been placed in a separate room where he is under full surveillance.

At the time of the alleged assault, he is believed to have been partially naked but did not manage to get into the bed with the woman before the alarm was raised.

Gardaí are investigating the incident in which the woman was said to have been pinned to her bed by the man. The woman, who is understood to have breathing difficulties, was unable to raise the alarm herself but another patient was able to get help.

South Tipperary General Hospital said yesterday it takes all matters of patient care very seriously.

“In line with strict protocols, any incident of an untoward nature is brought to the attention of the appropriate authorities — in addition to the hospital initiating its own review,” said a hospital spokesperson.

“In providing support to those affected by such an incident, South Tipperary General Hospital has apologised to the patient and family in relation to the matter it recently brought to the attention of An Garda Síochána.”

Health Minister Leo Varadkar yesterday said he did not know officially why the woman had been placed in a male ward but had heard reports it had been down to overcrowding.

Mr Varadkar said he was awaiting a report from the hospital on the incident. He had been told it was an alleged sexual assault and being a criminal matter, the gardaí had to be informed.

“The man is still in the hospital but he is now in a separate room and is under full surveillance so long as he is there,” he said.

Asked how unusual would it be for a woman to be put in a male ward, he told RTÉ Radio it was not that unusual.

“There are male wards, there are female wards and there are actually mixed wards as well,” he said. “So it certainly wouldn’t be unprecedented or all that unusual for a male to be in a female ward or in a mixed ward, which we have in a lot of hospitals.

“The patient who is alleged to have carried out the assault is being ‘specialled’, which means that he is under 24-hour surveillance.”

Earlier, the minister said it was “indefensible” that anyone should be more than 24 hours in a hospital emergency department (ED).

Commenting on the 91-year-old man left on a trolley for over 29 hours in Tallaght Hospital, Dublin, Mr Varadkar said he did not think it was fair to blame staff or management at the hospital.