10 hospitals failing to meet acute care standards

NONE of the 10 hospitals in the south and south-east is delivering acute care in line with international standards, according to a leaked report.

A Review of Acute Services in Cork and Kerry, which also looks at hospitals in the south-east, says all 10 hospitals fall into the “red zone” when it comes to “critical mass”, in other words the size of the workforce in each hospital is at odds with the population it serves.

The report’s authors – Horwarth Consulting Ireland and Teamwork Management Services – said that to deliver acute care to international standards, hospitals should have eight or more doctors at each level of seniority on a clinical team and a catchment population of between 350,000 and 500,000. None of the 10 hospitals meets this criteria.