STANDARDS:MORTUARY AND postmortem services around the country are of "variable standard" with many in need of urgent modernisation and refurbishment, according to the audit.
There was a need to review and upgrade facilities at Beaumont Hospital in Dublin where the report suggested the appointment of a mortuary manager was required. The mortuary policy in Beaumont was “not vision controlled or ratified”.
There was also “an urgent need to expand and modernise mortuary facilities at the hospital in Portlaoise while mortuary facilities at Mullingar hospital also needed modernisation.
At Naas hospital it found that “the mortuary is located in a port-a-cabin and the planned redesign is sorely needed.” Modernisation was needed at the mortuary in Portiuncula hospital Ballinasloe, Co Galway, at St Columcille’s in Loughlinstown, Co Dublin and at the hospital in Letterkenny Co Donegal.
Both modernisation and training for staff were needed at the hospital in Cavan while poor practices in hygiene, health and safety were found at the mortuary in Waterford Regional Hospital.
The audit was particularly critical of Kerry General Hospital where it found there was “an urgent need to update the mortuary/postmortem examination facilities.”
Technicians’ facilities were “stark and in need of refurbishment.”
Its postmortem examination suite was “badly in need of refurbishment” with the floors “hard to clean”, “poor drainage and ventilation and much of the equipment in need of upgrading.” Also an issue there is “lone working” and “security is poor”.
Mortuaries at the Coombe and the children’s hospital at Temple Street in Dublin had “good facilities but are compact.”
In general it found that in many hospitals’ current mortuary facilities were “unsuitable for high-risk postmortems/infectious cases.” It also found that security at the mortuaries was “varied” and advised “there should be a risk assessment in all mortuaries” with regard to that.
Where body storage was concerned it found that “many of the refrigerators across the State are quite old and in need of replacement.
It said there was “a necessity” for all hospitals that have neonatal deaths “to have separate refrigeration for these babies”. In the context it said “a domestic fridge is not acceptable.”
Standards were also “variable” when it came to observance of those appropriate to “risks associated with the mortuary and use of personal protective clothing”.
It recommended that pathologists and technicians should have an office for documentation related to the deceased; that there should be appropriate changing and shower facilities for staff; that there was a need for IT equipment and training in many mortuaries and; there should be access to regular counselling/supervision for staff who work with the deceased.
In general it concluded that “in ALL hospitals postmortem examinations are performed and completed in a timely fashion”.
