One in five hospitals inspected in 2015 required a follow-up inspection for poor hygiene and maintenance, compared to one in 10 hospitals in 2014, according to a HIQA report.
Thirty-nine unannounced inspections were carried out by HIQA in 32 public acute hospitals between January 2015 and December 2015.
During the course of the 39 inspections, 64 clinical areas were inspected including high-risk areas such as operating theatres, endoscopy suites, haematology, oncology, intensive care and coronary care units.
Seven of the 32 hospitals inspected required a follow-up inspection primarily due to poor hygiene standards observed during inspections and poor maintenance and management of the environment and facilities.
Re-inspections were carried out in the following hospitals:
Kerry General Hospital, Tralee, Co Kerry
Letterkenny General Hospital, Co Donegal
Midland Regional Hospital at Mullingar, Co Westmeath
National Maternity Hospital, Holles Street, Dublin
Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda, Co Louth
Portiuncula Hospital, Ballinasloe, Co Galway
South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital, Cork
In six of the seven re-inspections, hospitals had addressed most of the risks identified.
However, in one re-inspected hospital, no improvement in the standard of environmental hygiene was recorded.
“A clean and safe hospital environment is a fundamental expectation of patients, staff and visitors,” said Susan Cliffe, head of healthcare at HIQA.
“An acceptable standard of basic cleanliness is both essential and achievable with better management and oversight of cleaning performance”.
Some re-occurring findings relating to infrastructural deficiencies and maintenance included units that were outdated with inadequate infrastructure from an infection prevention and control perspective.
The report also found that overcrowding with limited spacing between beds was an issue for staff trying to circulate and manoeuvre patients.
The lack of pro-active maintenance programmes resulted in worn and poorly maintained surfaces which do not facilitate effective cleaning.
More than half (59%) of hospitals inspected in 2015 need to take action to improve the preparation, labelling and storage of intravenous medication in the clinical area, inspectors found.
Observations during inspections included pre-prepared syringes of medicines which were unlabelled or insufficiently labelled, inappropriately stored and left unattended and unsecured.
“It was evident during inspections in 2015 that overall, a greater culture of compliance with hand hygiene has begun to emerge in most hospitals,” added Ms Cliffe.
“This observation is supported by the reported findings from the HSE national audits that have shown steady improvement over time.
“Infection prevention care bundles are also an important element of infection prevention and while effective implementation was identified in some hospitals, care bundles need to be implemented in all acute hospitals where they are not already in place.
“Good practice includes the reliable application of care bundle steps, accompanied by audit and feedback to staff on compliance with care bundle measures, and device related infection surveillance”.
