The appointment by Minister for Health Mary Harney of a team of consultants to report on hygiene standards in the State's hospitals has been criticised by a support group for those affected by the hospital superbug MRSA.
Margaret Dawson of the group MRSA and Families said yesterday an audit of cleanliness in hospitals was a waste of money. She said Ms Harney knew what the problems in relation to cleanliness in hospitals were already.
The money being used on the audit to be undertaken in July and August would have been better spent on cleaning and infection control measures, she said.
Her comments followed the announcement by Ms Harney yesterday that the results of the audit being carried out by UK company Desford Consultancy Ltd will be made public when it is complete in September.
Ms Harney said the publication of results would ensure the issue of hygiene was taken more seriously by hospitals than it has been up to now. "Every hospital in the country will know that the public will have access to the results of the hygiene audit and this will encourage hospitals to perform better to tackle MRSA." .
Around 500 cases of MRSA infection were detected in Irish hospitals last year.