Review paints damning picture of management's handling of mortuary debacle at University Hospital Waterford

An independent review into mortuary services at University Hospital Waterford (UHW) painted a damning picture of management’s handling of long-standing inadequacies in the service in Waterford.

The report had been commissioned in 2019, after the horrendous conditions of the morgue at UHW gained national attention. The building was eventually replaced in 2021.

In 2019, the mortuary made national headlines, after its appalling conditions were revealed in an exclusive story published by the Waterford News & Star.

Bodies were kept in unrefrigerated conditions allowing them to decompose, with bodily fluids leaking onto the floor.

In some cases, families could not hold wakes for their loved ones due to severe decomposition. The conditions of the mortuary were flagged numerous times by hospital management at UHW.

In 2003, the HSE Estates Department claimed that the site was “unfit for purpose” after visiting the building.

In 2018, four Consultant Pathologists wrote to then CEO of the South/South West Hospital Group (SSWHG) Gerry O’Dwyer outlining the desperate conditions of the mortuary and the urgent need for it to be upgraded. The letter went unanswered for five months.

The review, which has finally come to light, read: “These circumstances were that the Group CEO was on annual leave and responsibility for responding to the correspondence was not appropriately communicated to the Acting CEO for follow-up. The HG CEO has apologised to the Consultant Histopathologists at UHW for this lapse.”

The report, carried out by an Independent Review Group, painted a picture of poor communication between the SSWHG and UHW staff.

The review found that health and safety guidelines were not regularly adhered to, with the ventilation system being a “risk to the public” as it did not meet the standards for air filtration.

The review group noted poor record keeping at the mortuary, especially in regards to organ retention.

Body bags were not used as standard practice until May 2019.

Two families had to receive counselling from the hospital due to their experience at the mortuary.

The tragic death of a child in 2017 prompted a consultant to contact management over the “unsafe” practices at the mortuary.

Then Taoiseach Leo Varadkar called the situation “strange” and that “no evidence has been brought forward to support the claim that dead bodies were decomposing on corridors”.

He apologised for his comments a few days later after UHW received a serious complaint that confirmed the issues.

In the years since the review’s commission, many questions have been asked regarding its status, both in and outside the Dáil.

Neither UHW nor the Department of Health received the report, which contained 39 recommendations regarding mortuary services at University Hospital Waterford.

The report also criticised hospital management for their interaction with the independent review group.

Accountability

TD Matt Shanahan told the Waterford News & Star: “Each year the funding application had been made to the HSE head office because it had been noted for some time that the mortuary in Waterford was just not up to par. It had been built in the last 10, 15 years and the whole rate of activity increased dramatically during those years.

“I have highlighted in my time at the Dáil the level of dysfunction that went on within the SSWHG in terms of funding UHW activity, it appeared to me to be a very self-interested aspect on the part of the group.

“You had four pathologists in Waterford who in one year had done 600 postmortems, and 12 pathologists in CUH (Cork University Hospital) who had done 800 postmortems.”

Deputy Shanahan credits the core issue to the “dysfunction” not only in the HSE, but also the SSWHG.

“I’ve seen in the media reports to dysfunction that has been accredited to HSE, but I would say it runs deeper than that, and there was absolutely total dysfunction within the South Southwest Hospital Group where people who were at the vanguard of HSE Southwest were basically funneling money into their preferred systems and into their preferred people.”

He called for accountability and transparency within the HSE, as did fellow Waterford TD and Sinn Féin’s national spokesperson for health David Cullinane.

Deputy Cullinane stated: “This raises very serious issues about due process, accountability and transparency. The purpose of a review is to establish facts, make recommendations and report to senior decision-makers. What is the point in commissioning a review if it does not achieve its objectives?”

HSE response

A spokesperson for the HSE sent a statement to the Waterford News & Star: “A new mortuary has been operational in University Hospital Waterford (UHW) since July 2021. The new purpose-built facility provides for the dignity of the deceased and an enhanced environment for the bereaved, along with an improved working space for hospital staff.”

“The purpose of the review into the mortuary services at UHW was to provide assurance around compliance with best practice, health and safety and legislative requirements for the day to day management and the governance and oversight of the facility from both a clinical and non-clinical perspective and to ensure that the facility is safe and satisfactory for use by deceased, relatives, staff and other key stakeholders.

“The hospital continues to monitor and improve its mortuary and pathology service.”