HSE apologises for failings in care of Cork man who took his own life in psychiatric hospital

Inquest heard on admission to St Stephen’s Hospital, Glanmire, he was not deemed high risk enough for special observations, and his shoelaces were not removed. He was found dead in his room just a few hours later

The inquest heard the father of two had been a voluntary patient at St Stephen’s for two weeks, just weeks before his death in November 2019, and that he had expressed suicidal thoughts to family members and friends the night before his death.

The HSE has apologised for failings in the care afforded to a young Cork father who took his own life in a psychiatric hospital just hours after his admission.

The apology was made after an inquest on Tuesday into the death almost six years ago of Anthony Hennessy, aged 38, from Gould’s Hill in Mallow, Co Cork, in a room in St Stephen’s Hospital, Glanmire, near Cork City.