The Health Service Executive has said it is providing St Columcille's Hospital in Loughlinstown, Dublin with the expertise of a consultant microbiologist following criticism of the hospital's infection control regime at inquests earlier this week.
On Tuesday the Dublin county coroner, Dr Kieran Geraghty, criticised infection control policies at the hospital after hearing inquests into the deaths of three patients which took place at the hospital.
They had all picked up hospital-acquired infections - two had picked up Clostridium difficile and one had MRSA.
The coroner's court heard that Loughlinstown hospital has no designated infection control team or consultant microbiologist and that just one nurse was in charge of infection control policy at the hospital.
It also heard that elements of the hospital's existing infection control policy, such as the presence of an infection control team and strict monitoring of the prescription of antibiotics, could not be implemented in the absence of a microbiologist.
Dr Geraghty noted that the hospital was hoping to get a microbiologist. "I've written to the hospital manager [ on the issue] and I've got no reply," he said.
He returned a verdict of death by hospital-acquired infection in one of the cases and decided the other two patients died of natural causes.
Asked to comment on the concerns raised by him at the inquests, the HSE, which runs the hospital, said yesterday that a consultant microbiologist would now have input into the hospital.
In a one-line reply to queries about the concerns raised at the inquests, it said: "The HSE has put interim measures in place to provide the hospital with consultant microbiologist input."