Disabled rights campaigner Dr Margaret Kennedy. Photo: Owen Breslin
Recent stories of young people dying in hospital emergency departments frighten me greatly. Inquests have heard about chaos, confusion, lack of staff, broken equipment and failures in management. Families called out for help, begged for attention from staff.
I was once a nurse and very proud to be so. I left Ireland at 18 for Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital in London. I ended up as a highly qualified lecturer and consultant in safeguarding disabled children and adults. The irony is not lost on me that at age 71 in an Irish hospital emergency department recently, I couldn’t safeguard myself.
