INO ‘not surprised’ at hospital’s dirtiness

A NURSING representative at Ireland’s dirtiest hospital yesterday blamed overcrowding and lack of infection control resources for its failure to meet minimum hygiene standards.

Philip McAnenly, INO representative for the staff at St Colmcille’s Hospital in Loughlinstown, Dublin, said he was not surprised by the finding that it topped the list of hospitals that showed poor standards of cleanliness. Neither hospital management nor the Health Service Executive should be surprised either, he said.

“I visited the hospital last week and saw scenes of very bad, serious overcrowding in the outpatient department. There were pitiful scenes there. I saw one elderly man with a plaster cast on his leg and no chair was available. He was standing and trying to support himself on one leg.”