Mallow cleans up as online patient survey rates hospital hygiene
St John’s Hospital in Limerick and the Rotunda Hospital in Dublin also received the top three high scores for cleanliness.
Our Lady’s Hospital, Drogheda, emerged as the dirtiest of all of the 50 hospitals rated.
The ratings, published yesterday by Irishhealth.com, also show that Waterford Regional is the second least hygienic hospital followed by the Coombe Women’s Hospital in Dublin.
Patients and relatives who participated in the survey rated hospitals on a scale of one to five for cleanliness.
The Drogheda hospital scored an average of 2.39 (48%) among the 369 who completed surveys while Mallow scored an average of 4.20 (84%) among the 49 people who completed surveys.
However, a spokesperson for the Health Service Executive (HSE) said that it appeared to have been rated based on a small number of people and this would not be considered a representative sample. She also pointed out that the comments were anonymous and without verification or validation. Subsequently, the comments were difficult to follow up.
However, Irishhealth.com publisher John Gibbons said previous HSE hygiene audits were based on spot checks and their latest survey results went some way towards providing a more statistically significant patient viewpoint.
“If patients and relatives believe a hospital is dirty based on what they see over a period of time, rather than a good, bad or indifferent hygiene performance reported by auditors on a particular day, then it has to be a cause of concern,” he said.
Results of the survey were also released on the same day as the Department of Health announced that the third national hygiene audit of hospitals by the newly established Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) is well underway.
All self-assessments were completed by March this year and HIQA are currently midway through the unannounced visits.
It is expected that the remaining hospital visits will be completed by mid-September with reports on the findings completed by the beginning of October. Participation by the acute hospitals is mandatory.
The two other national hygiene audits were carried out in 2005 and 2006.
Last September, Health Minister Mary Harney said every single hospital in the country should be achieving a hygiene score of at least 85%.
The second national audit of 53 hospital published a year ago, found 32 hospitals received a good rating, compared with five in the first audit. Two were considered poor, compared with 26 in the first.
While Mallow was knocked off the top for having the cleanest hospital by St Luke’s Hospital, Dublin, in the second audit, the hospital continued to increase its score from 88% to 91%.
“I expect in a short time that every single hospital will meet a minimum standard of 85%, which is regarded as a good score,” the minister said at the time.
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