THE HEALTH Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) has confirmed to the HSE that it has received no complaint about the standard of patient care at Mallow General Hospital, contrary to earlier media reports.
Hiqa director of healthcare quality and safety Jon Billings met senior management in HSE South with responsibility for Mallow General Hospital yesterday and confirmed to them that it had received no complaint regarding the hospital.
A HSE South spokeswoman confirmed that its management had sought clarification from Hiqa on whether or not a complaint had been made about the standard of care at Mallow.
Cork East Labour TD Seán Sherlock welcomed confirmation that no statement of complaint had been made against the hospital and said it confirmed what everyone associated with the hospital had long believed regarding the standard of care it provided.
“It should now mean that the tone of the Hiqa inquiry should change significantly to one where they make suggestions about the future viability of the hospital in a way which does not reduce the capacity of the hospital.”
He added: “It must be remembered that patient safety has always been paramount at Mallow and if there is no specific complaint about the hospital, then the administrative functions in the hospital have to be examined to see whether the HSE has adequately invested into those functions.”
Mr Sherlock said if Hiqa recommended in its report that acute services at Mallow General Hospital should be downgraded, then the logical conclusion was that Cork University Hospital would not be able to deal with the increased throughput, particularly given budgetary cutbacks.
Such an eventuality would lead to an increase in the risk profile at CUH and the city hospital should also be included in any assessment by Hiqa as to the level of patient care and safety, he added.
Earlier this week, Hiqa published its terms of reference for its investigation into patient safety at Mallow and said the inquiry was due to HSE’s failure to implement national recommendations in the north Cork hospital.
A Hiqa spokeswoman said yesterday the authority had issued its terms of reference for its inquiry and the process had begun, so it could not comment further, but its findings would be published in full.