Hospital study: Medical records are not being appropriately stored in a number of Irish hospitals which means confidential patient information may be seen by third parties, researchers have found.
A survey by the Irish Health Services Accreditation Board (IHSAB), published yesterday, found medical files were stored on trolleys in corridors and in unlocked rooms.
"Anybody could walk up and take one with nobody looking," the chief executive of the IHSAB, Róisín Boland.
"The potential is there for that to happen if there is a trolley on a corridor with really personal information on it," she said.
The study was conducted across 14 hospitals but the individual hospitals where standards were below acceptable levels have not been named because, according to Ms Boland, "it is not a name and shame" programme. Rather, it is an opportunity for the hospitals to see where there are gaps so they can make improvements.
The study also found there was no tracking of where files were moved to when they left the medical records department in some hospitals.
Out of the hospitals surveyed, 14 per cent were found not to be complying with appropriate standards for storage of medical records to ensure patient confidentiality.
Some hospitals were also found to have poor risk management procedures. Surveyors examined whether they responded quickly to patient safety issues and whether they took measures to prevent repeat incidents such as patients falling on wet floors for example.
Again, some 14 per cent of hospitals were not compliant with standards in this area and 43 per cent were only partially compliant.
There was a lack of follow-up action in some hospitals after forms were filled out and sent to a central location reporting incidents. "The form might go to somebody and not be followed up," Ms Boland said.
"One hospital did not have a mandatory feedback mechanism in place thus increasing the likelihood of incident recurrence," she said.
Looking at patient access to services, the survey found overcrowding in A&E departments at a number of hospitals meant staff could not conduct proper patient assessments. There simply was not sufficient space.
They also found, as outlined at an IHSAB conference earlier this year, that 21 per cent of hospitals did not have internal disaster plans in place to deal with things like flooding or fire.
Ms Boland said, however, that follow-up visits to six hospitals showed the deficiencies highlighted were being acted upon.
She said members of the public were now part of the survey teams going into hospitals to see if they comply with standards laid down by IHSAB. However, complying with the standards is voluntary.
The IHSAB, the safety and quality standards board for the Irish health service, is now working with the Health Service Executive on developing agreed standards of hygiene for all hospitals to combat the spread of hospital-acquired infections such as MRSA.
In addition, the board is developing national standards for public and private residential care for older people and these are due to be published in November.