Patients ‘at risk’ while staff on leave

PATIENTS at Mallow General Hospital are being put in potential danger when permanent staff are on leave due in part to replacement levels, leaked correspondence has claimed.

In a letter sent to new HSE chief executive Cathal Magee last month, the Health Information Quality Authority’s (HIQA) chief executive, Dr Tracey Cooper, warned that the issue is undermining the standard of care provided to patients.

The correspondence was sent after the health standards body began a controversial investigation into levels of care at the hospital.