A young woman hanged herself hours after leaving a Dublin hospital's A&E ward, an inquest heard last night. The 20-year-old, who had been suffering from depression, was found by her mother hanging in her bedroom in June 2004.
The inquest heard she had been brought by ambulance to the Mater's A&E ward for assessment at around midnight the previous evening amid worries over her state of mind.
Her mother complained that the hospital never alerted her after she left before being treated. A nurse, Jomar Fernandez, told the Dublin City Coroner's Court that the young woman asked to go for a cigarette after the ambulance crew handed her over.
However, he said, there was no sign of her when he went to look for her after a few minutes.