CUH still putting girls on wards with men after assault

A day after a 62-year-old man was convicted of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old in her hospital bed, CUH was asked what changes it brought in as a result of the horrific case.

CUH still putting girls on wards with men after assault

Cork University Hospital (CUH) still places teenage girls in some wards with adult men.

A day after a 62-year-old man was convicted of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old in her hospital bed, CUH was asked what changes it brought in as a result of the horrific case.

It was also asked what assurances it could give that the type of incident that happened at CUH in 2018 would not happen again.

The hospital declined to give an assurance that such an incident would not happen again. While it said it has reviewed admission protocols since the incident, it would not say what recommendations arose from the review.

Andrew O’Donovan from Butlersgift in Drimoleague, Co Cork, was convicted on February 11 of sexually assaulting a girl in CUH.

The South/South West Hospital Group, which runs CUH, said: “The sharing of wards between male and female patients is not common practice. However, this can arise in terms of Intensive Care Units and Observation Units for clinical reasons. Patients under the age of 16 years are always accommodated in pediatric wards.”

Judge Seán Ó Donnabháin, who sentenced O’Donovan, questioned how it was that a vulnerable, incapacitated girl was placed in a ward with O’Donovan.

In his summing up, the judge said: “You have to question in circumstances like this what management was doing. You have to question the management of the ward system. There appears to be no system of management or supervision.”

An emergency motion is to be raised at the next Regional Health Forum in connection with the sexual assault of the teenage patient at CUH.

Forum member Ted Tynan wants CUH chiefs to explain what they have done to make sure this does not happen again.

Mr Tynan said that, so far, the response from the hospital has been “entirely unsatisfactory”.The Cork City Council councillor added: “People need to know that their daughters are safe at this hospital.”

Mr O’Donovan has a diagnosed schizophrenic condition and had been attending mental health services since the 1980s for anxiety, agitation, euphoria, and insomnia. He was in same ward as the teenage girl, who was recovering from serious injuries when he sexually assaulted her.

Because of her physical injuries at the time, she could not reach the call button over her head. Staff were only alerted to what was going on when the man’s heart monitor set off an alarm that his heart rate was rising and they thought he was having a heart attack.

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