Mortuary conditions at UHW: HSE dysfunction

If the HSE — as an institution — were a family, it would be dysfunctional one, shrouded in secrecy and characterised by obfuscation and confusion.

Its inability to show respect for many patients in its care is shocking and disturbing. We are all painfully aware of our hospitals’ trolley crisis where hundreds of patients are left lying on makeshift beds for hours on end, forced to live without dignity. The revelation that dead bodies have been left lying at University Hospital Waterford mortuary shows that the HSE cannot even guarantee a dignified death.