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Tag Archives: HIQA

Nursing home pledges upgrade following HIQA report

An ENNIS Nursing Home has pledged to carry out an upgrading of its premises and equipment following concerns expressed by inspectors during a recent visit conducted by an independent health watchdog. Mowlam Healthcare Services has told the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) a planned programme of refurbishment that was put on hold due to Covid-19 will be recommenced at Ennis Nursing Home, Showgrounds Road, Drumbiggle. This will include painting, floor repair, upgrade to Bain Marie storage area in both dining rooms and repair to skirting and door frames. The person in charge will ensure that the facilities team undertake a review of lighting, particularly near lift exit and corridors upstairs. The PIC has completed a comprehensive review of all resident equipment. Any resident equipment deemed not suitable has been discarded and replaced; for equipment that required cleaning, a new tagging system has been introduced whereby cleaned items can be tagged after cleaning with a date stamp. The management team …

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Campaigners feel vindicated by HIQA’s UHL report

THE publication of a strongly critical report of the Emergency Department in University Hospital Limerick (UHL) has prompted a range of emotions for a local hospital campaigner. Marie McMahon from Ennistymon has been actively campaigning for the restoration of 24-hour casualty cover in Ennis, Nenagh and St John’s Hospitals for years. Her husband, Tommy died on a hospital trolley in April 2018 after spending about 36 hours waiting to get a bed. In an interview with the Clare Champion, those sad memories lingered for Marie, but she was happy that the HIQA report had vindicated the long, hard fight by the Mid-West Hospital Campaign for decent health provision for the people in the region. “The HIQA Report has validated all the things we have been saying that have been missed. Finally a body with some authority has stated in a report what those in authorities have been denying. “Everyone was putting their own spin on things. This report shows we …

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Patient waited almost five days for bed in UHL, HIQA reveals

ONE of the 60 patients in the Emergency Department at UHL was waiting more than 116 hours for a hospital bed, an inspection report completed by the Health Information and Equality Authority has found. Inspectors who visited UHL unannounced on March 15 found a second was waiting over 85 hours and a third was waiting 71 hours. Hospital management told inspectors that all three patients were awaiting suitable in-patient isolation facilities. Performance data on the patient experience time collected on the day of HIQA’s inspection was poor. The data showed that at 11.30am the hospital was not compliant with any of the national key performance indicators for the emergency department set by the HSE. At that time 76 patients (55%) attendees to the emergency department were in the department for more than six hours after registration. Over half (51%) of the attendees to the emergency department were in the department for more than nine hours after registration. Just over one …

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HIQA delivers damning verdict on UHL emergency department

AN INSPECTION by HIQA has found that conditions in the emergency department at University Hospital Limerick pose a significant risk to the provision of care and to the health and welfare of people receiving care. The report by the health watchdog, published today, found UHL’s emergency department to be non-compliant in three key indicators from the National Standards for safer better healthcare. It was only partially compliant with the other key standard. Excessive demand on services, ineffective patient flow and insufficient nurse staffing levels were all highlighted in the report of an inspection that took place at the hospital on March 15 of this year. On that date HIQA conducted a risk-based unannounced inspection of the ED at UHL to follow up on issues of overcrowding and to assess preparations for the risk of additional severe crowding over the upcoming bank holiday weekend of March 17 to 20. During the inspection, HIQA assessed compliance with four key standards under the …

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HIQA considers UHL inspection

CHRONIC overcrowding in University Hospital Limerick (UHL) is back under the national spotlight following confirmation HIQA is considering inspecting the Emergency Department as part of its recent monitoring of this issue. The INMO’s Trolley Watch reported there were 87 patients on trolleys in UHL last week, which fell to 71 on Tuesday before increasing again to 75 on Wednesday. Calls are being made for the Emergency Department Taskforce to be convened and for emergency measures to be deployed in the areas worst hit. UHL regularly has the dubious distinction of being the most overcrowded hospital in the country. Deputy Michael McNamara has called on the HSE and government to publish the findings of a review by the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) into the ongoing trolley crisis at University Hospital Limerick (UHL). The Independent Deputy issued his request in Dáil Éireann on Wednesday after Junior Health Minister Mary Butler confirmed to him that the health agency has written to …

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Cratloe Nursing home free of Covid-19 and makes moves to address cleaning concerns

RESIDENTS and staff in a Cratloe Nursing Home have remained free from Covid-19 up to August 18 last, according to a new report from an independent health watchdog. There were 32 residents living in Sancta Maria Nursing Home, Gallows Hill, Cratloe, when inspectors from the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) conducted an inspection last August. The centre was deemed compliant with regulations on persons in charge, contract for provision of services, visits, individual assessment and care plan, health care, and residents’ rights. It was found to be substantially compliant with standards on staffing, training and staff development, records, governance and management, complaints procedure, infection control, fire precautions, individual assessment and care plan, and protection. The inspector had concerns that the entire centre and equipment could not be cleaned to the standard required during a Covid-19 pandemic by one housekeeping staff member. On the day of inspection there was one housekeeper whose duties included cleaning, laundry and assisting with kitchen …

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Fifteen residents and staff of nursing home had Covid-19 – report

NINE staff members and six residents tested positive for Covid-19 in an Ennistymon long-stay residential centre, a new report has revealed. The Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) conducted a one-day risk inspection of Ennistymon Community Hospital on July 7 to monitor compliance with national regulations, and following an outbreak of Covid-19 the previous January. One resident with Covid-19 died, according to a HIQA inspection report. At the time of this inspection, residents and staff had completed their required period of isolation and the outbreak had been declared over by public health on February 23. The centre, which is run by the Health Service Executive (HSE), had 15 residents on the day of the inspection, but has the capacity to accommodate 27. It was deemed to be compliant with national regulations on staffing, training and staff development, governance and management, complaints procedure, visits, infection control, fire precautions, individual assessment and care plan, health care, protection and residents’ rights. Inspectors found …

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New Raheen Hospital unit to open next year

STATE-OF-THE ART new facilities are to come on stream at Raheen Community Hospital by the middle of next year, according to Clare’s Independent TD. Scariff’s Deputy Michael McNamara told The Champion he has received confirmation from the Health Service Executive (HSE) that the proposed new build ward extension at the Tuamgraney facility will be fully operational during the second quarter of 2022. “The first phase of the works commenced in March and involved the relocation of the existing plant and boiler house which was sited on the footprint of the new build,” he said. “The HSE has informed me that these works have been completed and that work on the 420m2 extension to the new build is underway.” The additional unit will involve a number of new long-stay facilities. “The project includes the provision of seven long-stay replacement beds as part of an extension which will reduce the density of beds in the long stay wards and address deficiencies identified …

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