Woman had to wait 45 minutes for ambulance to take her 800m

A husband thought he was doing the right thing by rushing his beloved wife back to Cork University Hospital’s (CUH) mental health unit after she overdosed. He thought the unit’s medical staff, who had been caring for her earlier, could organise the urgent care she so desperately needed.

But Henry O’Reilly’s decision has haunted him for the last year.

Remarkably, it resulted in his wife Marion having to wait in CUH for almost 45 minutes for an ambulance to drive 40km from Fermoy in North Cork — to transfer her about 800m, or 90 seconds, to the hospital’s emergency department (ED).