A shocking 91 per cent of hospitals across the State are failing to meet acceptable standards of cleanliness and hygiene, according to a major report.
Minister for Health Mary Harney admitted she herself would be worried about going into some of our hospitals, following yesterday's publication of the first audit of hygiene in hospitals.
Only five of the 54 acute hospitals which were audited met required standards.
Those at the bottom of the ratings include Dublin's Beaumont Hospital; St Columcille's Hospital, Loughlinstown, Dublin; and Waterford Regional Hospital.
Poor hygiene standards were also found at Portlaoise General Hospital, Roscommon County Hospital, Kerry General Hospital and Mullingar General Hospital.
The most hygienic hospitals in the State were named as Mallow General Hospital, St James's in Dublin and Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin.
As the Health Service Executive last night pledged to continue to name and shame hospitals which did not measure up to required standards, Fine Gael's health spokesman Dr Liam Twomey claimed half of the State's hospitals would be "closed down in the morning if the standards applied to restaurants and meat factories were applied to them".
The director of the HSE's national hospitals office, Pat McLoughlin, indicated that in future hospitals that did not perform well in all areas, including hygiene standards, could have reduced access to development funding. Hospital budgets will be linked to performance in 2006, he said.
Beaumont Hospital was given just 27 marks out of a possible 100 for the state of the general environment in its surgical ward area and its A&E unit. This was among the lowest scores recorded.
Waterford Regional Hospital scored 33 points out of 100 for the environment in its medical ward.
Even in intensive care units, levels of hygiene were found to be below acceptable levels. At Limerick Regional Hospital hand hygiene in the intensive care unit was poor, scoring 55 out of a possible 100 points.
Beaumont, a national tertiary referral hospital, said last night that management and staff were deeply disappointed by the performance of the hospital in the audit. "The hospital now gives a commitment to all its stakeholders that it will redouble its efforts in this area," it said.
St Columcille's Hospital said it acknowledged the need to improve its hygiene standards. It said new cleaning schedules had been devised.
A spokeswoman for Waterford Regional Hospital said the hospital had not yet received a copy of the report. When it did it would assess the findings and see how it could act on any recommendations made.
The HSE said national standards for cleanliness in hospitals as well as for infection control were now being finalised. They will be piloted in three hospitals in coming weeks and implemented in all hospitals next year.
It has set aside an initial €20 million to enable hospitals to implement required improvements set out in the report and plans to reinspect hospitals twice next year.