Harney defends hospital bug plan after deaths
Her assurances followed concerns by a coroner over the number of deaths in a south Dublin hospital.
Dublin County Coroner Dr Kieran Geraghty asked the HSE to appoint a consultant microbiologist to St Columcille’s Hospital in Loughlinstown.
He called for urgent intervention following the deaths of 16 people with hospital-acquired infection at the hospital over a seven-month period in 2007.
Of the 16 deaths, 10 related to the bug C diff, with the remainder relating to MRSA.
But Ms Harney said she could not accept people were afraid of going to hospital because of the risk of picking up an infection.
There would be 4,000 more people in hospital this year and hospitals were providing higher standards of care than 10 years ago, she said.
“We have plans in place that are being implemented by the appropriate expertise to minimise the possibility of people acquiring infections through the healthcare system,” she said.
The HSE had a national plan to tackle “health-acquired” infections that would see them reduced by 20% in the coming years, with MRSA being reduced by 30%. And, she said, the most effective way of reducing such infections was to reduce antibiotic use, which was to drop by 20%.
Ms Harney said funding had been provided for the appointment of a microbiologist at St Columcille’s.
The position had been advertised on a number of occasions but had proven difficult to fill. A microbiologist at St Vincent’s Hospital was providing cover at St Columcille’s.
Clearly, she said, every effort had to be made to minimise the possibility of an infection being acquired in a hospital setting.
“This is an issue that confronts every health department right around the world. We have got to learn from best practice,” she said.
Ms Harney said many cases of hospital-acquired infection went unreported in the past. The incidence of such infection was being measured with a view to ensuring the appropriate plans were in place to minimise the risk of infection.
Meanwhile, irishhealth.com’s latest Rate My Hospital figures show St Columcille’s Hospital is the fourth-worst in the country when it comes to patient and patient-relative reported rates of hospital acquired infection.
Ratings posted on the website over the past year-and-a-half show 11% of patients and relatives said MRSA or another hospital-acquired infection was contracted during a recent stay in the hospital.
