Three deaths among 24 adverse events reported to Hiqa under new legislation 

The Patient Safety Act 2023 requires certain incidents to be notified to Hiqa by healthcare service providers. File picture: Sam Boal

The deaths of an expectant mother and three babies were among 24 adverse events referred to the State’s health watchdog under new hospital reporting rules.

In its latest annual Overview Report of Healthcare Services, the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) revealed it received the notifications of adverse events between September 26 and December 31 last year.

Three of them were described as the unintended or unanticipated death of a healthy patient undergoing elective surgery, and three were described as the unintended or unanticipated death directly related to medical treatment.

It also included 12 incidents where babies were referred for therapeutic hypothermia, also known as neo-natal cooling.

Of the notifications Hiqa received, 22 were received from public, acute, and specialist settings and two were submitted by private hospitals.

The Patient Safety Act 2023 requires certain incidents to be notified to Hiqa by healthcare service providers.

These relate to serious adverse events resulting in unanticipated and unintended deaths or outcomes of traumatic births. The occurrence of such an accident is not necessarily an indication of poor care.

The legislation has expanded Hiqa’s remit into private hospitals for the first time, meaning both public and private hospitals are now monitored against the national standards for safer, better healthcare.

Hiqa said: “The commencement of the Patient Safety Act was an important milestone for the entire health sector.

It mandated the notification of incidents from healthcare services to Hiqa for the first time, expanded Hiqa’s monitoring remit to private hospitals, and further supports the promotion of quality and safety across healthcare services, both public and private.

The watchdog said it has seen continued effort from many service providers to use findings from inspections to drive improvements and positive outcomes for patients.

It added: “Ireland’s health service continues to be challenged by capacity, staffing and infrastructural issues which highlight the need for resilient services that can meet the needs of the population now and into the future.”

The overview report noted that in 2024, Hiqa received 1,769 pieces of feedback for all services within its remit.

Hiqa said its inspections have shown examples of improved levels of compliance in healthcare services in 2024.

In situations where findings from previous inspections facilitated comparison on re-inspection in 2024, it stated 41% of national standards assessed on re-inspection showed improvements.

In addition, in facilities that provide medical exposure to ionising radiation, the number of regulations assessed as not compliant was 5%, which is lower than the 12% identified between 2021 and 2023.