This article is from page 16 of the 2005-11-08 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 16 JPG
HEALTH services in the Mid-West have de- scribed the “poor” hygiene findings in the re- gion’s hospitals as “a wake-up call” for every- body working in the hospital service.
In the first ever national acute hospitals hy- giene audit, undertaken by Desford Consultan- cy Limited on behalf of the National Hospitals Office, the Mid-Western Regional Hospital, Ennis, received a rating of 68 per cent, with the Mid-Western Regional Hospital, Limerick, re- TORY Data On Ooo) 81m
The HSE Mid-West region said it fully ac- cepted the findings of the report and would immediately intensify efforts to make hospital staff of all grades more hygiene-conscious.
Among the audit’s suggestions to combat hygiene problems are training of staff in hand hygiene, basic cleaning techniques and the use
of cleaning chemicals and dilution rates.
Patient groups across the country have been calling for stricter hygiene regulations in hos- pitals for over a year in an attempt to control the antibiotic resident MRSA virus, which is rampant in hospitals.
Acute Hospitals network manager for the Mid-West, Mr John O’Brien, said, “We have to put our hands up and say that the results are disappointing and, clearly, we are going to have KoMClOMoloiiKompeMAUIAUD use
“On the positive side, Croom and St John’s received a ‘fair’ rating and Ennis, Nenagh and the Regional Maternity, while being classed as ‘poor’, were close to achieving ‘fair’ rat- ings. Our objective now is to ensure that all our acute hospitals are categorised as ‘good’ next time out.”
He continued, “We have to acknowledge, however, that the performance of the Mid-
Western Regional Hospital, Dooradoyle, was particularly disappointing, and that action must be taken to remedy the deficiencies identified by the auditor, particularly in surgical, medical and ICU. I will be taking immediate steps to prepare an action plan to address the findings of the audit.”
Dr Nuala O’Connell, consultant microbiol- ogist at the Mid-Western Regional Hospital, Limerick said, “Considering the amount of ex- penditure in terms of resources and effort, the results give no room for complacency. We have to go back to the drawing board over the next few weeks and get everybody on board so we can do better.
‘Hygiene is the business of every single per- son working in our hospitals and it is also the business of patients and the public. All of us must work together to achieve a behavioural and cultural shift.”