Hospitals watchdog has ‘flurry of concerns’

HOSPITALS in the north-east and mid-west are being closely monitored by the state’s health safety watchdog following a “flurry of concerns”.

The chief executive of the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA), Dr Tracey Cooper, said the authority was “keeping a monitoring eye” on the quality and safety of services provided by the hospital groups in the two regions.

The major acute hospitals being monitored include the Mid-Western Regional Hospital in Limerick and Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, Co Louth, as well the linked regional hospitals — Dundalk, Navan, St John’s (Limerick), Nenagh and Ennis.