HSE acts on hospital report

HEALTH authorities have moved to reassure the public that serious concerns highlighted in a detailed report into Tallaght Hospital are being addressed.

Last week it was revealed how an investigation at the hospital raised issues in relation to the safety of patients who had to wait on trolleys in corridors for sustained periods of time.

A probe carried out by the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) into patient care and governance was also critical of the hospital’s board for not having arrangements in place to adequately govern the facility.

Despite a number of attempts to address governance problems at Tallaght, the report found that sufficient action was not taken by the hospital itself or the HSE to address these issues.

The report states that over 80 per cent of patients admitted to the Emergency Department (ED) were accommodated on the corridor adjacent to the ED and waited, on average, a further 13 hours for an inpatient bed.

It also found that one patient had to wait on a trolley for 140 hours before they were treated. It stated that the overall situation for patients attending the ED was

“unacceptable

?.

A review of documentation identified that in 2010, a total of 331 patient

“clinical incidents

? were reported in relation to the ED and the corridor adjacent to the department.

Some 154 clinical incidents reported in ED were recorded as

“slips

? while 52 incidents (16 per cent) were categorised as

“trips and falls

?. Some 32 incidents (10 per cent) were classified as

“absconded patients

? and there were 23 (seven per cent) medication related incidents.

In 2011, two unexpected patient deaths occurred within the ED, one in March and the second in July.

The report noted that

“the contributing factors [to the deaths] centered on the sub-optimal environment of the corridor adjacent to the ED for the accommodation of patients

?.

It also found that there was a

“lack of a structured communication process between hospital teams and limited nursing documentation and care plans for admitted patients while awaiting admission to an inpatient ward

?.

During the investigation HIQA also found that the awarding of a contract to a consultancy firm raised serious concerns about the effectiveness of the governance arrangements for financial management, transparency and contract control at the hospital.

The report makes 76 specific recommendations including the discontinuation of the practice of placing patients on trolleys in corridors or emergency departments. It also recommends that patients should not have to wait longer than six hours in A&E.

Triona Murphy is a spokesperson for the Tallaght Hospital Action Group (THAG), which has long campaigned for improved patient safety at the hospital.

She believes the HSE is partly responsible for many of the adverse findings in the report.

“Going back years we felt that the hospital was never resourced properly for the patients who were coming in the doors and that it didn’t get the support from the HSE that it deserved,

? she said.

“The HSE collects statistics from every hospital in the country. They knew exactly how much pressure Tallaght was under yet they did nothing to intervene or to support or ensure that the best standards in relation to patient safety and trolleys were met.

?

However, the HSE referred Southside People to a statement made by Dr Philip Crowley, HSE National Director for Quality and Patient Safety, following the publication of the report.

He said that many improvements have taken place in Tallaght Hospital since the report was commissioned in June 2011.

“The HSE has been working closely with Tallaght Hospital and other hospitals to address many of the issues arising in the report,

? he said.

“Many of the recommendations made by HIQA are already being addressed through initiatives within the HSE including the ongoing work of the Clinical Care Programmes, in particular the Acute Medicine Programme (AMP) and the Emergency Medicine Programme (EMP).

?

In a statement last week Tallaght Hospital said its CEO Eilish Hardiman and the interim board accepted the recommendations of the HIQA investigation.

“I want to state that Tallaght Hospital accepts the recommendations of the HIQA Report in their totality and without exception,

? she said.