Nenagh Hospital, in Co Tipperary
Eilish O'Regan

Three of Ireland's major hospitals reported to have serious infection risks

Inspectors say patients are at serious risk of infection or scalding, while some medical equipment was dirty and staff failed to wash their hands

By Healthcare Facilities Today


Inspectors who visited the Mater, Tallaght and St Vincent's hospitals have found failures by staff to follow basic infection-control rules, according to an article on the Independent website.

The Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) report follows a previous unfavorable inspections of other major hospitals.

The report, following inspections in August, again found that doctors were not washing their hands between treating patients, while staff followed key infection-control protection on just nine of the 17 times they were observed, the article said. The inspectors discovered a "black substance" in some shower areas, unclean hand sinks and "unlabelled syringes" containing unknown solutions that posed a risk of injury.

The article quoted the report warning: "Observations suggest that a culture of hand-hygiene practice is not embedded at all levels, especially among staff practices observed by the authority on St Joseph's ward."

Read the article.

 

 

 



October 24, 2013


Topic Area: Safety


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