HIQA inspection identifies good management of emergency department in Beaumont Hospital

A Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) report of an inspection of the emergency department of Beaumont Hospital has found that the hospital demonstrated good overall levels of compliance with the National Standards for Safer Better Healthcare.

As per the report, the hospital had been ‘adequately resourced’ to provide a good standard of care and had worked to reduce staff vacancy rates.

Beaumont Hospital had a full complement of nursing staff in the emergency departments at the time of inspection and had established greater availability and access to consultants and senior decision-makers.

The hospital also had good access to step-down facilities and beds which facilitated efficient patient flow within and from the hospital.

Furthermore, HIQA found that in recent years services had managed to move from a situation of persistent overcrowding in the emergency departments to one where such crowding was well managed or not present.

HIQA carried out an unannounced inspection of the emergency department at Beaumont Hospital on 13 April 2023, finding substantial compliance with all four standards assessed.

While the emergency department was found to be busy, it was functioning well.

On the day of inspection, 69 patients were registered in the ED with eight patients on trolleys.

While the hospital had further work to do to meet the six and nine-hour ED targets for admission or discharge set by the Health Service Executive, there were no patients waiting more than 24 hours to be admitted or discharged from the emergency department.

Beaumont Hospital consistently features in the top three better performing Irish hospitals in relation to maintaining a low number of admitted patients on trolleys in emergency departments.

The hospital had an escalation policy to manage delays in triage times which incorporated actions when registration to triage times surpassed 15 minutes.

Furthermore, the hospital’s ‘Beaumont in the Home’ initiative supported the discharge home of patients awaiting a care package.

The scheme involved a number of visits from a healthcare team to the patient until a care package was available through community care. This initiative was established under the governance of Beaumont Hospital, in conjunction with the HSE Community Health Organisation area 9 (CHO9). At the time of inspection, 100 patients had used the service since its establishment in April 2022.

Coomenting on the report, HIQA’s Director of Healthcare, Sean Egan, said: “The inspections of the emergency departments in Beaumont Hospital and University Hospital Waterford show the positive impact of a well-managed service on patient care.

“Our findings demonstrate that management had implemented effective operational measures and oversight to support efficient functioning of their emergency departments to reduce overcrowding.

“A key element in both hospitals had been the increase in available bed capacity both in the hospital and in local step-down facilities – inclusive of those provided in the private sector – to enable patient flow.

“Of particular note is that the inspection of University Hospital Waterford took place seven weeks after the fire at Wexford General Hospital, when the hospital was providing emergency care cover for counties normally serviced by Wexford University Hospital.

“Despite the high level of patient presentations, the hospital continued to effectively manage its emergency department.”

The Beaumont Hospital inspection report is available to read at www.hiqa.ie