Gardaí in Cork have begun an investigation into a report that a teenage girl was sexually assaulted at Cork University Hospital (CUH) by a male patient earlier this week.

The girl, who was being treated for serious injuries suffered in an accident earlier this month, had been hospitalised in an all-male ward when the incident allegedly happened.

The girl alleged she was asleep in bed in the ward at around 5am on Monday morning when a patient in his 60s approached her and sexually assaulted her.

The girl also alleged that the man then asked her for a kiss before she managed to raise the alarm and contact two nurses on duty elsewhere in the ward at the time.

Contacted by The Irish Times, a spokeswoman for CUH confirmed that management and staff were assisting gardaí with an investigation into an incident.

“Cork University Hospital is co-operating with Garda authorities in their investigation into an incident that allegedly took place in the hospital in the early hours of the 14th May,” she said.

Asked if the hospital could comment on or explain why a teenage girl was being treated in an all-male ward, the hospital spokeswoman said it could not make any further comment at this stage.

It is understood the matter was reported first to local gardaí in the Togher Garda District but was then referred to the Garda National Protective Services Bureau based at Anglesea Street.

Officers from the unit, which investigates complaints of sexual assaults, have begun preliminary inquiries and have spoken to the girl and her parents who raised the matter with CUH management.

Gardaí plan to speak to nursing staff who were on duty in the ward at the time of the alleged assault, while they also hope to speak to the man accused of the sexual assault.

However, the man is due to undergo major surgery later this week and officers will not be able to speak to him until he is deemed fit for interview by doctors after he recovers.