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Elderly Patient in Abuse Video Was Not Woman Initially Identified, HSE Says Image: David Raleigh
🇮🇪 Ireland /Health & Science

Elderly Patient in Abuse Video Was Not Woman Initially Identified, HSE Says

From Irish Times · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Official statement Under investigation
  • The HSE said a preliminary screening has been completed into footage that appears to show a healthcare worker verbally abusing an elderly female patient.
  • It confirmed the video was not filmed at University Hospital Limerick, and that the woman initially identified by a Limerick family was not the patient shown.
  • The HSE said it had contacted the correct patient’s family and that further investigative processes were under way.

The family of the elderly woman shown in a disturbing video has asked for privacy after the HSE confirmed it had identified and met them. The footage appears to show a healthcare worker calling the patient “crazy” and refusing her a cup of tea because she had already received one.

The HSE said it had completed a “preliminary screening” and was pursuing further “appropriate processes” to determine whether abuse, including psychological abuse, had occurred. It declined to identify the hospital where the video was filmed.

Scrutiny of healthcare services is legitimate and necessary; abuse and threats are not.

— HSE Mid WestThe regional health authority condemned threats directed at staff who were not involved in the incident.

The footage went viral after being reported by several media outlets. HSE Mid West then said its inquiries found that it had not been recorded at University Hospital Limerick or any other HSE Mid West hospital site.

Sometimes we are too quick, whether it’s in politics or on social media, to jump to a particular conclusion instead of establishing the facts.

— Jennifer Carroll MacNeillThe health minister commented after inquiries showed the video was not filmed at University Hospital Limerick.

Aisling Hogan of Caherdavin in Limerick had identified the woman as her late mother, Ita Tobin, 83, who had previously been treated at University Hospital Limerick and later died in a nursing home in August 2025. A senior manager at the hospital met Hogan and her son and daughter last Friday. Hogan described the meeting as positive and said she felt her concerns had been taken seriously. Later that day, HSE Mid West told her that her mother was not the patient in the video. Hogan said she was “wholeheartedly” sorry for the mistake and had no further comment.

Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill said people can be too quick to reach conclusions in politics and on social media before establishing the facts. She apologised for the criticism directed at University Hospital Limerick staff, while the HSE Mid West said scrutiny of healthcare services was legitimate but that abuse and threats were not. The HSE said the interaction in the footage was deeply upsetting and fell below the required standard.

Wholeheartedly

— Aisling HoganHogan apologised after learning that her late mother was not the woman shown in the video.
About this summary

Originally published by Irish Times in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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