Plans by the Health Service Executive (HSE) to conduct a second audit of hygiene in hospitals next month has been described as a waste of money by the vice-president of the Irish Medical Organisation.
Dr Christine O'Malley said it was a waste to conduct a second audit before hospitals were given full feedback on why they scored poorly on the previous audit, details of which were published in November. Hospitals also had to be given time to rectify any deficits which were found.
Dr O'Malley, a consultant geriatrician in Nenagh, Co Tipperary, said hospitals were given marks for hand hygiene in the first audit but when one looked at the audit tool hand-washing was not monitored. What was looked at was whether there were proper sinks, hand washes and hand-washing facilities. Hospitals had to be given time to put things right.
She urged the hospitals not to co-operate with the new audit.
Last night Stephen McMahon of the Irish Patients' Association said urging hospitals not to co-operate with the new audit was outrageous. "With Ireland having one of the highest incidents of MRSA in Europe, continuous effort and monitoring of performance on all fronts by all concerned is required to minimise this problem."
The last audit found 91 per cent of hospitals were failing to meet acceptable hygiene standards.
Dr O'Malley also supported a call by Health Minister Mary Harney for restricted hospital visiting hours. She said when the public has constant access to hospitals it gets in the way of patient care and "does not help in terms of keeping a hospital clean".