A WOMAN with multiple sclerosis who had to wear a catheter during a 37-day stay in the Mater hospital in Dublin because there was no available wheelchair-accessible toilet was discriminated against, the Equality Tribunal has found.
In a decision released by the tribunal yesterday, equality officer Tara Coogan ordered the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital to pay the woman €6,348, the maximum award allowable under discrimination legislation.
The complainant was admitted to hospital in August 2006 suffering from pneumonia and pleurisy. On admission to Our Lady’s ward, she was fitted with a urinary catheter which was due to be removed when her health improved. Although her neurology doctor recommended the catheter should be removed, it was left in for the duration of her stay.
Her shared room had an en- suite bathroom but it was not wheelchair accessible. After inquiring about a wheelchair- accessible toilet she was directed to a locked toilet in the corridor that had no handrail and that had a keypad for entry which was out of her reach.
A second wheelchair-accessible toilet was available on the ground floor, five floors below the complainant’s room and which was closed in the evenings. The complainant also said she was offered nappies as an alternative to the catheter. She also had to wash herself using a cloth at the sink because the ward had no accessible shower and staff told her “they would get to her later on”.
She also discovered another accessible toilet had been decommissioned and allocated to staff use only.
In her ruling, Ms Coogan said it was clear the woman was treated less favourably because of her disability. Having no alternative to wearing a catheter constituted less favourable treatment and caused her stress.
“I accept that the complainant did request to have the catheter removed, but in view of the fact that there were no accessible facilities available, the catheter was left in place,” she said.
The hospital said it regretted that due to unauthorised actions of staff, the existing wheelchair-accessible toilet was placed beyond patient use at the time.
A directive had since been issued to all staff making it clear that such facilities were reserved for disabled patients.
A major plan was under way to provide 120 beds in a new complex by 2011 where facilities would be fully accessible, the hospital said.
