Hospital to carry out internal review after death of Brian
By Brendan Grehan
The brother of the man who was found dead at Tallaght Hospital on Saturday has said his brother was not homeless.
Brian Hamilton (40) from Crumlin was found dead in the waiting area of the hospital’s emergency department on Saturday afternoon. Gardai said foul play was not suspected.
Brian Hamilton passed away at the weekend in Tallaght Hospital
Speaking on radio last Monday, Mr Hamilton’s brother Michael said he went to the hospital at around 4pm on Saturday to identify the body.
He said his brother was not homeless despite being registered with the Simon Community and “had his demons”.
He said: “I could tell myself and I’m not a doctor, he was dead a long time . . . I could tell by the colour of his face, his ears were black, his neck was black.”
“The doctor said they have him coming in on CCTV at 2am on Friday night. He was pronounced dead at 3.45pm.”
Michael said he was informed his brother got up once during the early hours of Saturday, went to the toilet and returned to his seat.
“He only moved once and the rest of the time he was motionless,” he added.
A statement from Tallaght hospital said the man was understood to have been sheltering at the hospital and had not sought medical treatment.
“He was in rehab, we weren’t even aware he had left, he was in residential care for his alcohol addiction and the only way we could get him into the Simon was to register him as homeless,” his brother said.
Wasn’t actually homeless
“That’s the only way you can get into these places is register as homeless. He wasn’t actually homeless.”
Management at the hospital are co-operating with the gardai in their investigations and an internal review will also be initiated immediately into the circumstances of the incident.
The hospital would like to extend their condolences to the family of the deceased.
