Hospital’s High Court action against patient struck out

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

A hospital’s High Court action against a patient with a serious medical condition was struck out on undisclosed terms on 14 December 2015. The action had been due to be mentioned before Mr Justice Paul Gilligan that day.

The hospital had initiated proceedings the previous week seeking orders, including an injunction, compelling the male patient to leave and move to another medical facility. He had been undergoing treatment for several weeks and allegedly refused to leave. The judge had granted the hospital permission the previous week to serve short notice of the injunction proceedings.

The report said it was understood that the patient had reached an agreement with the hospital and was prepared to leave.

Hospital lawyers told the court this was not a case of throwing the patient onto the street or of him having nowhere to go. The court was told arrangements had been made to transfer him to another hospital after several other options had not worked out.

The hospital claimed the patient had made demands it could not agree to and that everything within its power had been done for him. The court also heard that his treatment had been completed and that there was a long list of people waiting for a bed.