A HIQA report on Kilrush District Hospital has found one instance of a major non-compliance and nine minor non-compliance issues. The announced inspections took place on July 31 and August 1, while 35 residents were in the building. The major non compliant issue was in relation to the St Flannan’s three-bed room. “Two of the beds were located in close proximity to one another. The inspector observed that a resident sitting in her wheelchair beside her bed was moved to the day room to allow a visitor sit beside the resident in the adjacent bed,” the report said. “The privacy and dignity of residents was further compromised due to the clear glass panels which were located on both entrance doors to the ward. St Flannan’s three-bedded room did not meet the needs of residents and was unsuitable in design and layout. It accommodated three female residents at the time of inspection. There was inadequate space to store clothes and other …
Read More »HSE cancels non essential services for safety reasons
The Mid-West HSE Community Healthcare Department has decided to cancel all non essential community healthcare services scheduled for Monday due to Hurricane Ophelia. In a statement issued on Monday morning, the health authority confirmed all non emergency healthcare will not operate on Monday and the majority of its local buildings are closed. All residential and emergency services will operate as normal and to the best of the authority’s capability in the expected storm force conditions. Staff colleagues at the UL Hospitals’ Group have restricted all services to emergency with ED and Local Injury Units operating. Ambulance services are as normal for emergency work. The group has cancelled all outpatient appointments, day surgery and elective procedures in University Hospital Limerick, University Maternity Hospital Limerick, Nenagh Hospital, Ennis Hospital, Croom Orthopaedic Hospital and St John’s Hospital on Monday. Patients are advised not to travel to the hospitals unless absolutely necessary. All patients whose appointments have been cancelled will be contacted to …
Read More »Ennis dental surgery shuts after incident
The Mid-West HSE has been forced to cease dental surgeries in Ennis following an incident in the local clinic. HSE Mid-West Community Healthcare is currently in contact with the parents of up to 43 children to establish if they were affected by an apparent problem at the HSE Dental Clinic in Bindon Street, Ennis. The HSE has launched a full review to establish all of the facts of what happened. The centre has six dental surgeries, of which five were in operation when the incident is believed to have occurred on Wednesday last and continued until it was detected on Thursday. Early indications yet to be confirmed suggest that a drain cleaning product got mixed with the water used during treatment when normally the water would be mixed with an approved dental product. The surgeries were closed on Friday for corrective action and it is hoped they will be back in operation by Monday afternoon or Tuesday morning. Commenting …
Read More »29% Drop in Uptake of HPV vaccine in Clare
There has been a 29% drop in the uptake of the free Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccination programme for girls in County Clare since it commenced in 2010, according to figures released by the HSE. Provisional figures show that the uptake of the vaccine in the county is 10% above the national average at just slightly below 60%, but this has fallen from 89% since the vaccine programme was first introduced. This reduction is something that has not been helped by the comments made by, and later retracted, by Bishop of Waterford Alphonsus Cullinan, who is originally from Lahinch, according to a HSE spokesperson. Bishop Cullinan was quoted in the media last week suggesting that the vaccine would encourage promiscuity. In an interview with WLR (Waterford Local Radio), he preached abstinence, stating the vaccine was “lulling teenage girls into a false sense of security”. “We have to do better than giving our boys condoms and our girls injections,” he said. …
Read More »Leaks halt surgery at Merlin Park
Patients from North Clare and South Galway who had scheduled orthopaedic surgery at Merlin Park Hospital, Galway, are facing longer waiting times, as a result of a leak on the roof of a building accommodating two theatres. Hospital management has admitted it will not be possible to restore orthopaedic theatre surgery for a number of weeks. Up to 80 patients, who were scheduled for surgery, have been rescheduled to a later date. More patients will be contacted with cancellations over the coming weeks, until the service is re-established. Staff from theatres and the wards have been reassigned to Merlin Park and UHG into existing vacancies, which have to be filled in the short term. Describing the cancellations as “unfortunate”at a HSE West Forum West meeting on Tuesday, forum chairperson Councillor Mary Hoade said about 70 surgeries were carried out in Merlin Park, while there are more than 800 inpatients on the day case waiting list, with 56 reaching the 15-month …
Read More »New Research Paper Highlights Inequity in Anomaly Scan Offering
A NEW research paper published by the Irish Medical Journal, which was co-written by a South East Clare obstetrician, has revealed pregnant women living outside of Dublin only have a 38% chance of being offered an anomaly scan in the public system. Parteen native Dr Karen McNamara is a specialist registrar in obstetrics and gynaecology and a clinical research fellow in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at University College Cork. She was involved in compiling the recently-published research, Maternity Ultrasound in the Republic of Ireland 2016; A Review. Dr McNamara noted the number of women being offered an anomaly scan outside of Dublin stands at 38%, a number that has remained largely unchanged despite it being highlighted in previous pieces of research in 2007, 2012 and 2013. She said the review she conducted with Dr Deirdre Hayes Ryan, Dr Noirin Russell, Professor Louise Kenny and Dr Keelin O’Donoghue, showed an inequity in the service that pregnant women are receiving; most notably, that 100% of public patients are being offered the anomaly scan if they attend maternity services in Dublin but only 38% are offered it elsewhere in the country. …
Read More »Campaign to highlight elder abuse
Age Action has called for an “aggressive public information campaign” to inform members of the public how to report cases of elder abuse. The leading advocacy organisation for older people was responding to the publication today (Monday) of HSE figures revealing that almost 8,000 cases of alleged adult abuse were reported in 2016 but only 6% of cases were reported by the alleged victim or their family. Justin Moran, head of advocacy and communications, said, “The number of elder abuse cases has been rising every year since the HSE started reporting figures almost 10 years ago. “The best way for older people to protect themselves is to be informed, to ensure their friends and family know what warnings signs to watch out for and to act when they suspect elder abuse.The very low figures for reporting of abuse by those who are suffering from it or their family suggests too few people know what to look out for or how …
Read More »Patient survey for May
IRELAND’S first ever National Patient Experience Survey, which began on Monday and continues until the end of the month, affords adult acute hospital inpatients a chance to describe their experiences and suggest improvements. UL Hospitals Group is part of this joint initiative between the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA), the HSE and the Department of Health. During May, adult patients who are discharged from a public acute hospital during this month are being invited to participate in the survey. Up to 27,000 patients nationally will be eligible to take part making this the largest single survey of the healthcare system in Ireland. In excess of 2,000 of these patients will be asked to describe their experiences in University Hospital Limerick, Ennis Hospital, Nenagh Hospital, St John’s Hospital and Croom Orthopaedic Hospital. Maternal health and paediatric services do not come under the ambit of the current survey. Patients will be asked 61 questions on topics such as confidence and trust …
Read More »