Survey exposes hospital crisis plans

A SURVEY of 12 acute hospitals found all had haphazard plans which left staff unclear about what to do in the event of an internal disaster such as fire or flooding.

It also found one-in-five hospitals had never tested external emergency plans which deal with major disasters such as plane and bus crashes.

Roisin Boland, chief executive of the Irish Health Services Accreditation Board (IHSAB), the body behind the survey, said hospital staff were unsure of where to transfer patients in the event of an internal emergency.