Hospital putting patients ‘at serious risk’

A leading regional hospital is putting patients at “immediate serious risk” by failing to meet vital health and safety policies designed to ensure the welfare of the public.

The criticism is contained in a Health Information Quality Authority inspection of Waterford Regional Hospital, which took place last month. According to the report, which can be read at www.irishexaminer.com, hospital staff are failing to adhere to long-established hand hygiene polices, risking the possibility of patient cross-infection.

The report said the issue was particularly apparent in the emergency department, where doctors and nurses regularly passed sinks without cleaning their hands, and hand gel dispensers often failed to work.

The report also noted that, on the day of the unannounced hygiene inspection, a patient with a serious communicable disease was left in the emergency department among other patients, risking the possibility of the illness spreading.

Two isolation rooms where the patient should have been kept were being used as a storeroom and for other medical consultations.

The crowded nature of the emergency department meant the external corridor was “cluttered” with patients on trolleys, some of whom were placed next to “waste collection” areas.

In another part of the hospital, the same one-day inspection team noted that emergency supplies of needles, syringes and medications were kept on “an unsecured trolley” in a main corridor, while “hazardous chemicals” were left in open bottles on a nearby shelf.

Responding to the Waterford Regional Hospital concerns, the facility’s clinical director Dr Rob Landers said the failure to meet standards was “unacceptable” and must be immediately addressed. He told RTÉ radio’s News At One he was personally “disappointed by the results”, but insisted hygiene standards are something the hospital “takes seriously”.

When asked to clarify what exactly this meant, he said all staff receive “training” on hand hygiene and that this will be increased in future in order to tackle any potential problems.

Dr Landers added that while the HIQA findings were highly critical, there has been no significant rise in the number of healthcare acquired infections such as MRSA and C diff at the hospital in recent months.

The Waterford findings were contained in five separate HIQA hygiene reports that were released by the State’s independent health watchdog yesterday.

Among other facilities examined were Portiuncula Hospital in Ballinasloe, Co Galway; Our Lady’s Hospital in Navan, Co Meath; Louth County Hospital; and St Michael’s Hospital in Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin.