Bid to cut infection risk in hospitals by increasing number of national standards
The Health Information and Quality Authority yesterday published the draft standards, a revision of the 2009 national standards.
Hiqa’s director of standards and quality improvement, Marie Kehoe-O’Sullivan urged patients, their families, service providers, and the public to become involved in developing new standards.
Around one in 20 people are affected by healthcare-associated infections, often after treatment in hospital. Such infections increase in patient care areas where there are high numbers of vulnerable patients and complex activity.
Antimicrobial resistance also presents a grave threat to patients, with more outbreaks related to multidrug-resistant organisms reported in Irish hospitals.
Ireland has the highest proportion of vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) in Europe for the eighth consecutive year.
A Hiqa report published over the summer found some hospitals required “urgent support” from the HSE in dealing with the growing superbug threat. It examined how public acute hospitals were dealing with the threat and, while progress had been made, it varies across the country.
Ms Kehoe-O’Sullivan said the draft standards reflected what Hiqa had learned from its inspections against the 2009 standards across all hospitals. “It is critically important that all Irish hospitals continue their best efforts to fully comply with national standards and to prioritise areas that need to improve,” she said.
While Hiqa’s current remit does not cover private acute hospitals, representatives of the Private Hospitals Association participated in developing the revised national standards. When a statutory licensing system starts in Ireland, all acute hospitals will have to comply with the national standards and relevant legislation.
Primary, community health and social care services are outside the scope of the draft standards. Hiqa will start developing standards for these service providers next year and, in the meantime, wants them to continue using the 2009 national standards.
Since 2012, Hiqa has engaged in a rolling programme of inspections based on the 2009 national standards reported on its website. Senior management in the hospitals and the HSE are responsible for implementing the standards.
Friday, November 18, is the deadline for responding to the draft standards.
