Hygiene concerns - Doctors put people at risk

The latest inspection report from the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) makes frightening reading.

Despite the various health campaigns emphasising the importance of hand hygiene in preventing the spread of hospital bugs, it is staggering to read that doctors were failing to wash their hands between treating different patients.

More shocking was the disclosure that the worst offenders were the medical staff doing ward rounds in the neurological intensive care and emergency department of Beaumont Hospital. Hand hygiene is internationally recognised as the most important factor in preventing the spread of healthcare associated infections.