100 healthcare facilities to face hygiene test

THE Health Service Executive is to scrutinise up to 100, 24-hour healthcare facilities to establish if they meet basic hygiene requirements.

The two-year programme of inspections will begin in October and will focus on the HSE’s residential-owned and operated care facilities, including elderly, disability and mental health services.

It will be assessing the methods used by the health care professionals to reduce the risk of hospital-born infections such as MRSA and C-diff, incidences of which have increased dramatically in recent years.

There were 526 recorded cases of MRSA across 53 hospitals in 2007. Between May and June this year there were 626 cases of C-diff.

The HSE admitted this is the first time there has been an external national audit of the environment within the Primary Community and Continuing Care (PCCC) sector. It said a similar exercise had taken place within the acute service.

A written report showing areas of good practice, as well as the areas where substandard conditions are located, will be presented to the local health office manager and the community infection control committee for assessment

The inspectors, who are to be selected in the coming weeks using a tender process, will be expected to assess almost 260 criteria in examining each facility.

They include staff’s attitude to hand cleansing, the safety of the environment, the handling of waste and management of patient equipment. As well as examining the clinical and treatment rooms, the audit will also examine all the supplementary areas of the service, such as catering.

Among the reference tools they will be expected to use is strategy document The Control and Prevention of MRSA in Hospitals and the Community and Guidelines for Hand Hygiene in Irish Healthcare Settings.

“The HSE want to work pro-actively with staff and managers to ensure there will be an ongoing commitment to adhere to best practice and continuous improvement,” a spokesman said. “A report will be compiled at the end of the process and a corporate governance tool is being developed in parallel to give clarity around developing an implementation plan associated with this Hygiene Audit.”

The audit cost is expected to exceed €200,000.

Earlier this month it was announced hospitals that fail to comply with new infection control standards will be named and shamed by the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA).

It published 12 steps hospitals can take to prevent and control infections. When the standards are introduced at the end of the year, the authority will start inspecting hospitals to ensure compliance.