Six out of 10 hospitals inspected by the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) last year were non-compliant with aspects of infection-control procedures against Covid-19, according to a new report.
Recurring issues around poor physical infrastructure, capacity issues and workforce challenges affected attempts to cope with the pandemic, according to the health watchdog.
Hiqa “noticed that despite an increase in both temporary and longer term investment in services in response to the pandemic, some healthcare services continue to be proportionately less resourced than others”.
Hiqa’s director of regulation, Mary Dunnion said: “The Covid-19 pandemic required Hiqa to change our inspection plans in 2020 to focus on the challenges posed by the pandemic. In most instances, we found an effective approach to adapt to this unprecedented crisis in hospitals. However, hospitals’ efforts were made more difficult due to underlying historic problems with infrastructure, limited bed capacity and unequal or limited access to specialist workforce input and advice — problems that Hiqa’s prior monitoring work against national standards has consistently highlighted.”
Naas General Hospital was non-compliant for three standards: governance arrangements to deliver safe and effective infection control; the provision of a safe and clean environment that minimises the risk of transmission of infections; and having a system in place to manage and control infection outbreaks in a timely and effective manner.
Five other hospitals were non-compliant in relation to one of the five standards.
These hospitals were: Mayo University Hospital, South Tipperary General Hospital, Wexford General Hospital, Tallaght University Hospital and University Hospital Kerry.
University Hospital Waterford, Letterkenny University Hospital, University Hospital Limerick and Midland Regional Hospital Mullingar recorded no non-compliances with the standards.
