Local mortuary released wrong remains to undertaker

The family of a patient who died last weekend was given the incorrect remains from the mortuary at Mullingar Hospital.

The Ireland East Hospital Group, which operates the hospital, confirmed that incorrect remains were released to an undertaker.

The Irish Examiner reported today that the incident involved a patient with COVID-19 who had passed away and that the undertaker was notified shortly before the funeral service was due to start.

The incident occurred on Friday, April 24.

The Ireland East Hospital Group said the mistake was rectified when it was detected.

It said it wishes to apologise for the distress this has caused and to offer condolences to the families involved.

“The Ireland East Hospital Group along with Regional Hospital Mullingar have convened their Serious Incident Management Team and are conducting a full internal review.  Processes and protocols have been reviewed within the hospital and its mortuary in order to mitigate this extremely rare event from happening again.​”