Tallaght Hospital facing scrutiny

A HIGH-POWERED team has been appointed by the state’s health protection watchdog to probe the safety of the country’s busiest hospital for patients needing acute admission.

The Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) announced last month that it would investigate the quality, safety and governance of the care provided at Dublin’s Tallaght Hospital for patients admitted in its emergency department.

It announced yesterday that it had appointed a 10-member investigation team, comprising seven independent members and three HIQA officials.

The team includes Paddy Broe, vice-president of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Mike Farrar, chief executive of the UK national Health Service Confederation, John Heyworth, president of the UK College of Accident and Emergency Medicine and Sheila O’Connor, national co-ordinator of Patient Focus.

A five-member expert advisory panel of representatives of post-graduate training bodies in Ireland will support the investigation process.

The investigation will also examine the Health Service Executive’s governance arrangements to support and monitor the provision of safe, quality services in the hospital.

HIQA said information obtained through interviews will not be attributed to any individual in the final report.

The authority will meet with patients or members of their family to discuss the care provided by the hospital and will look at the system of care for patients requiring acute admission rather than individual incidents.

The report and its recommendations will be published.