HSE admits two hospitals need urgent attention

Biggins

Posting this for those that might miss it.

HSE admits two hospitals need urgent attention

Friday September 04 2009
Mayo General Hospital and Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda are the worst performing hospitals in the country, according to a new HSE league table.
The 29-hospital league table measures their performance across a range of areas including waiting time for operations and clinics, emergency department delays, absenteeism and budgeting.
It comes as the HSE announced yesterday that the Drogheda hospital would become the main emergency centre for the region after the opening of its new A&E unit later on this year.
Average
In the five months they have been monitored, no hospital in the country has managed enough points to earn a "very good" mark and the majority are only succeeding in getting the mid-ranking "average performance" grade.
Mayo General and Our Lady of Lourdes were bottom of the table in the last survey in March 2009 and have again been ranked worst for "unsatisfactory" performance "requiring urgent attention". The results for Mayo General show:

• Patients with eye problems are waiting nearly two years for an ophthalmology clinic appointment although the target is 90 days.
• Long delays for consultant- led clinics.
• Just 70pc of the orthopaedic patients seen by doctors are from public waiting lists although they should comprise at least 80pc.

The results for Our Lady of Lourdes show:

• High levels of absenteeism except for medical and dental staff.
• Just 65pc of those seen in orthopaedic clinics are from public lists.
• Public patients only make up 60pc of those seen by general surgeons and the rest are private.

Other hospitals which got the lowest mark for waiting times are Tallaght Hospital Dublin, Cork University Hospital, Limerick Regional and University College Hospital in Galway.
Part of the reason for the monitoring is to allow hospitals which have poor records in some areas to learn from the best performers.
The figures showing the failure to ensure 80pc of all patients seen are from public lists comes despite the new consultants' contract which forces them to limit private clients to 20pc.
The latest rankings came as the HSE yesterday briefed staff in hospitals in Louth and Meath on proposed centralisation of services which it will phase in.
Our Lady of Lourdes will provide the main A&E service for people in the region which will see Our Lady's Hospital Navan and Louth County Hospital lose their emergency departments.

Source: http://www.independent.ie/national-news/hse-admits-two-hospitals-need-urgent-attention-1878130.html

Haayylleey

I think it's ridiculous to have our local services cut so much. These are very drastic decisions and will end up having some serious implications for people living in the affected areas. If it ends up that the only A&E services will be from Our Lady of Lourdes then I will dread to think of the state of that department after the first month. It's a disgrace.

whelan1

brilliant idea heap loads more pressure on an already way under pressure situation what a load of assh*les have they no cop on at all . bet they never had to spend time in olol

Irjudge1

I was going to create a new thread. But why dont we just record the litany of messes at our main regional hospital.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/1103/health.html

I am sick to death of this I have no faith at all it the Lourdes to provide emergency services for the North East region. 10 years of a boom and the main hospital for the North East is a total mess.

eth0_

I see the Lourdes was shut this week after a C Diff outbreak.
Why is it so difficult for this hospital to stay clean? They have plenty of cleaners and infection control nurses who should be supervising. If I worked in the Lourdes i'd be so embarrassed by the consistent bad press it receives that i'd be doing as much as I possibly could to make sure it improved!