HSE aims to reassure patients over safety

THE Health Service Executive (HSE) has moved to reassure users of Mallow General Hospital that the service is safe.

This follows publication of a report by the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) which found that if a seriously ill patient attended the emergency department, or if the condition of a patient deteriorated out of hours, they may not have a senior doctor available to them in a timely way.

Furthermore, the report said the absence of onsite anaesthetic expertise could mean the safety of patients requiring respiratory or airways support were at greater risk unless robust controls were in place.

This meant that caring for patients in need of the highest level of critical care at Mallow was “not appropriate”, the report said.

The HSE defended its record in relation to the hospital and said substantial improvements had already been made, including the introduction of a mandatory airways training programme in September 2010, an end to overnight ventilation of critically ill patients who are instead stabilised and transferred to the appropriate care setting and the introduction of a mandatory acceptance protocol compelling Cork University Hospital (CUH) to accept the transfer of all critically ill patients.

In addition, all locum appointments are now on the national specialist surgical register and the appropriate level of locum cover is provided when consultant surgeons are on holiday, the HSE said.

HSE area manager for Cork Ger Reaney said the report contained “no evidence of any adverse clinical outcomes for patients” and it “recognised the professionalism and expertise of staff”.

HIQA found that the hospital was well maintained and very clear, that staff were very professional and committed to patients, but that the system of care “depended on the willingness and commitment of individual staff to make themselves available when circumstances required”.

Mallow-based consultant anaesthetist Dr Michael Pead said the report vindicated the extreme professionalism of staff under what are quite difficult circumstances.

“If you need an example of a lean hospital, you cannot get more lean than Mallow. We’ve lived on nothing for a very long time and we’ve made do for a very long time. What that means is that the staff are the hospital and it’s the quality of the staff,” Dr Pead said.

“The quality of the leaders of that staff, that made sure HIQA could find no patient there had come to harm.”

Dr Pead said staff had initially been very upset and paranoid when the investigation was announced in fear that it was on foot of a complaint.

He said they had seen what had happened at Ennis General Hospital, which had “almost closed” following a HIQA inspection.

In fact, it was HIQA dissatisfaction with HSE inaction in relation to implementing the recommendations of the Ennis report that prompted the Mallow inspection.

This was coupled with “confidential information” it received in relation to the system of care at Mallow General hospital linked to a patient who died at a different hospital.