My father died in a crowded public ward with television blaring

The daughter of a well-known Limerick businessman has described how her dying father was left for more than 12 hours on a hospital trolley surrounded by drunks and sick patients.

Eddie Moloney, 73, passed away beneath a blaring television in a crowded public ward among other patients and their families as they cheered and applauded a rugby match.

In a statement, University Hospital Limerick said: “Where possible, a patient identified as being at the end of life is prioritised for a bed — preferably in a single room — and an end-of-life care section is built in to our bed-booking systems to facilitate this.

“Unfortunately, in a busy hospital environment where there are competing demands for single rooms [eg for infection prevention and control], this is not always possible.”

Highlighting the “lack of privacy for dying patients” at the hospital, Mr Moloney’s heartbroken daughter Joanne added: “I don’t want anyone else to go through what my father and our family went through.

“There was no privacy for dad when he was nearing the end of his life. It’s the least that can be done for a human being.”

On October 8, Mr Moloney, who ran Modesty Clothing in Limerick for 30 years, was brought by ambulance from his home to UHL after suffering a bleed on his brain.

“He was brought through A&E and into a resuscitation room, but it was a Friday night and they were getting really busy, so he was moved out of there and left on a trolley in a corridor for more than 12 hours,” said Ms Moloney.

“There were drunks falling around his trolley and pushing into me and my mum — a typical Friday night in the hospital.”

Eventually Mr Moloney was placed in a large public ward, where he later passed away.

“There was a big rugby match on the television, and there was people cheering and clapping and things like that ... while my father was dying. It’s wrong on all levels,” his daughter said.

“It would make sense to have at least one private [near end-of-life] room on every ward, or every floor, or ... at least one room per hospital.

“The staff were amazing. It’s not their fault. It’s the system they work under.”

University Hospital Limerick said end-of-life care is “all the more important when 43% of deaths in Ireland take place in acute hospital settings”.

“Where a patient has died or is dying on a ward, the end-of-life care symbol is placed over their bed,” said a hospital spokesperson. “A number of policies have been implemented and staff trained around end-of-life care. UL Hospitals continuously strives to meet the IHF’s voluntary Quality Standards for End-of-Life Care in Hospitals.”

The hospital said it had recently “improved services for bereaved families” including “the renovation of the mortuary; the planting of a new garden on the way to the mortuary and the opening of a family room”.