Hospitals given 12 months to enforce hygiene standards

PUBLIC hospitals and other healthcare centres have one year to comply with new mandatory hygiene standards.

The 12 standards, published yesterday by the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA), will apply to all health and social care services, including GP and dental surgeries.

Compliance with the standards will eventually become a licensing requirement for all hospitals when proposed legislation arising from the Commission on Patient Safety and Quality Assurance comes into force.