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University Hospital Galway
Investigation launched after woman in her 80s dies on hospital trolley
The woman presented at University Hospital Galway on 14 September, but died on a trolley in the emergency department several hours later.
AN INVESTIGATION HAS been launched after an elderly woman died on a hospital trolley in the west of Ireland last week.
The patient, aged in her 80s, is understood to have presented at University Hospital Galway (UHG) from her nursing home on Wednesday 14 September, according to a report in the Galway City Tribune.
The woman remained on a trolley for several hours in the emergency department at the hospital before being discovered dead from suspected heart complications.
The woman is believed to have a history of cardiac illness.
It is believed that the hospital was severely overcrowded at the time of the incident.
A spokesperson for the Saolta Hospital Group, which operates UHG, said that the case will be “reviewed externally in conjunction with the National Ambulance Service (NAS)”.
“The Saolta University Health Care Group and the National Ambulance Service have offered the family concerned our deepest sympathy and will be communicating directly with them in relation to the review process,” the spokesperson said.
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