THE HEALTH Service Executive (HSE) has been providing security at a cost of about €200,000 so far for a patient diagnosed with tuberculosis (TB) who is in isolation in a Galway hospital.
The private security firm was employed to ensure the patient remained in isolation, following several attempts by him to leave Galway University Hospital.
The patient, believed to be a man in his 30s who had been homeless previously, has been treated for an acute form of TB.
He has been at the hospital for 18 months, and his condition is understood to have worsened when he attempted to leave. It is understood that at one point he had to be physically restrained.
He is now being detained under section 38 of the 1947 Health Act due to the risk of transmission of the infection.
A private security guard has been deployed outside the man’s ward, and a second room is being used by hospital staff for cleaning and linen-changing purposes.
The HSE said it could not comment on individual patients. However, it said it had statutory duties to prevent and control certain conditions, and it was following national guidelines for best practice.
“The extent and duration of measures required to prevent and control these conditions depends upon the patient, their response to treatment and who will be exposed to the patient,” it said.
