87-year-old woman alleged to have suffered attempted sex attack in Tipperary hospital

By William O'Toole

Gardaí have launched an investigation after an 87-year-old woman was allegedly the victim of an attempted sexual assault at a Tipperary hospital.

It is claimed that the incident, which allegedly happened last week, saw the elderly woman pinned down in her bed after she had been placed in an all-male ward at the hospital.

The woman was unable to raise the alarm and help only arrived when another patient allegedly noticed what was going on and called for help.

Staff members quickly intervened, but the woman's son said she was left severely traumatised by the incident.

Speaking to the Irish Daily Mail today, her furious son said that his mother was now unable to sleep because of the incident.

"She was in her bed around midnight when she was awoken by a man climbing onto it. He removed his pyjamas and underpants and told her to stay quiet, this won't take long," he said. "It was dark and my mother was not able to shout out."

Hiqa, the HSE and Gardaí have all been informed about the incident which is alleged to have occurred last Wednesday.

It is understood that the male patient at the centre of the allegation is still in the hospital, in isolation, and is being watched closely by staff members. He has been approved for long term care but the Health Service is waiting for an appropriate place to become available for him.

In a statement, South Tipperary General Hospital said that it had launched its own internal review after bringing the matter to the attention of gardaí.

"Any incident of an untoward nature is brought to the attention of the relative authority," the statement said.

"We (STGH) have apologised to the patient and her family. We take patient care very seriously and we will be initiating our own internal review."

Speaking in the Dáil today, Public Expenditure Minister Brendan Howlin confirmed the matter was under investigation.

"The Gardaí were called and are investigating," he said. "The male patient is being monitored 24/7 by security staff, pending acceptance by a healthcare facility that is appropriate to his needs."