Bernadette Devereux

PLEASE SHARE: VILE ABUSE OF ELDERLY AT CASTLEBAR HOSPITAL The utterly appalling treatment of vulnerable elderly people in hospital wards and nursing homes has been exposed in Castlebar this Christmas. Patients are being drugged on sedatives and antipsychotic drugs to keep them quiet and ultimately send them to an untimely death. Jemima, Isaac and Seán Burke arrived at Mayo University Hospital this morning (Christmas Day) to visit an elderly gentleman whom we know well and have cared for over the last 5+ years. We have been raising concerns about his care for weeks. This morning we found him in a critical condition - drugged out, dehydrated and malnourished. We immediately raised the alarm. The staff nurse on duty was very defensive. She told us to leave the bed. Within minutes, the Duty Manager had arrived flanked by a Security Guard and other men who stood in the ward. A show of activity ensued. Multiple staff arrived, including two doctors, two nurses and healthcare assistants. The patient was wheeled out for a scan, hooked up to tubes and moved to a different room. He is now critically ill. We have been raising concerns since mid-December when we first became aware that Mayo University Hospital was prescribing this single, elderly gentleman with anti-psychotics and sleeping tablets. He has been subjected to the most vile neglect by Mayo University Hospital. This hospital is administering older people with antipsychotic drugs and sedatives such as Haloperidal and Midazolam. Many of these patients are very vulnerable men and women, elderly people, perhaps living alone before they came to hospital, with few relatives to sit at the bedside. Antipsychotic drugs do not treat the patient’s medical issue. They simply knock out the patient and keep them “quiet”. Injections often happen late at night or early in the morning. These patients are then less likely to ring their call bells or tell friends and family how they are being treated. When family members call the hospital they are told the patient is “comfortable” when in reality they are drugged and dying of starvation. Catherine Donohoe is the General Manager of Mayo University Hospital. She and her staff are responsible to make sure this gentleman is cared for. Instead he has been left to die on a hospital bed. We urge anyone with friends or relatives in hospitals and nursing homes to visit their loved ones, demand answers to your questions and refuse to be intimidated by staff.