THE Rotunda Hospital has been given the thumbs up from the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) for its standards of hygiene.
In an inspection report published recently by HIQA and based on an unannounced visit to the Hospital in August, The Rotunda was found to have high hygiene standards, and in many cases, exceeded the desired standards set by the HSE of 90 per cent.
Results of an audit of equipment and environmental hygiene in the delivery suite in July showed 97 per cent compliance with desired standards. An overall compliance score for hospital-wide hygiene showed a score of 94 per cent.
Hand hygiene standards amongst staff were particularly high, with 95 per cent of staff in the delivery suite, and 100 per cent of staff working in the operating theatre up to date with hand hygiene training.
Audits also found that the hospital hand hygiene compliance rate, in May/June of 2016, was 96.7 per cent, far exceeding the national compliance target.
Patient satisfaction also mirrored the positive hygiene results. When asked if teams had washed their hands, 90 per cent of patient respondents said ‘always, yes.’
Additionally, 95 per cent of respondents agreed that the hospital facilities were clean.
According to the report: “The hospital had exceeded the required HSE national hand hygiene compliance target of 90 per cent and improved the uptake of hand hygiene training amongst staff, which is commendable.
“The hospital has also implemented and embedded peripheral vascular care bundles across inpatient clinical areas in line with best practice guidelines.”
Master of The Rotunda, Professor Fergal Malone said the team at The Rotunda took huge pride in the report’s positive results.
“Keeping a building as old as ours – 260 years old – as clean as our staff do is no easy task,” he continued.
“We manage a busy, working hospital that operates 24 hours a day and our staff do a wonderful job of ensuring that at all times, it is kept to the highest standards of hygiene.
“All of our staff are in-house; many of them life-long employees, and some come from generations of Rotunda employees. They really are the unsung heroes of this hospital.
“They impose the highest standards and take huge pride in their work. On behalf of all the staff, our patients and new mums, we thank them for ensuring that we have a hospital operating to the highest hygiene standards.”
Geraldine Gannon, Clinical Midwife Manager, agreed that the report reflected high standards at The Rotunda.
“Everyone here takes responsibility for making sure our hospital is at all times spotlessly clean,” she said.
“Our cleaning staff are always mindful of the environment in which they work and know that new mums value their privacy. They are so efficient at discreetly making sure that all wards and rooms are thoroughly cleaned. It has been a very busy year, but the work ethic, input and spirit of the team has been exemplary and we thank them sincerely for that effort.”