The Lough Sheever Centre
The Midland Health Board has suspended three staff members after an incident in which six mentally handicapped patients were left unattended in a mini bus outside a Dublin shopping centre. The incident happened while the staff were returning from an official visit to a medical facility in the capital. RTÉ News understands that the six patients were left abandoned in the mini-bus in the car park of the Liffey Valley Shopping Centre.
The Lough Sheever Centre for the Mentally Handicapped is located in Mullingar, County Westmeath and it was from this centre that three nurses set off for Dublin on a day outing with six mentally handicapped patients. RTÉ news understands that they visited a centre in the city and on their return route stopped off at the Liffey Valley shopping centre. At this point all three staff members got out of the mini-bus and left the six patients unattended. The alarm was raised when a member of the public spotted one of the patients in distress and rang the telephone number of the health board printed along the side of the vehicle.
A preliminary disciplinary hearing took place in Mullingar yesterday and in a statement this evening the Midland Health Board confirmed that three staff members have now been suspended. The Board says that, while no harm came to the patients, it is their view that patient care may have been put at risk. The staff in whose care the patients had been placed were subsequently suspended while the case is being investigated.
