Report into deadly hospital outbreak still not acted on

AN internal hospital report calling for infection control improvements to prevent a repeat of last year’s deadly clostridium difficile outbreak at University Hospital Galway (UHG) has yet to be implemented six months after it was concluded.

The document – submitted to Galway University Hospitals management, which oversees UHG and the nearby Merlin Park University Hospital – was concluded in November after 22 cases of clostridium difficile were recorded at St Rita’s ward in UHG in January 2008.

The outbreak contributed to four deaths at UHG and led to a series of concerns being raised over the infection control policy in the ward as the clostridium difficile cluster was deemed to have been more severe than previous cases.