THE GOVERNMENT ban on public service recruitment has been partly blamed for a poor performance by Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda in a hygiene inspection by the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa).
The facility is the main acute hospital in the northeast and the main maternity hospital in Louth and Meath.
Hiqa found that in the majority of areas visited. the standard of hygiene was only “fair”. Among its criticisms was a mould-like residue found on the majority of the windows, and on the ceilings and windows of the maternity ward. There was also “heavy dust” on high and low surfaces.
Des O’Flynn, the network manager for the hospital, has said that if he had the resources, he would employ managers to supervise the cleaning. He was speaking on LMFM radio yesterday morning, where he said he was disappointed with, and took responsibility for, the hospital’s poor performance.
The inspection took place on the same day last month that the HSE declared that an outbreak of the potentially fatal C diff infection in the hospital, was over.
Mr O’Flynn said 20 contract cleaners were employed at the hospital and that at any one time between 60 and 80 people were cleaning there. He would employ more cleaning staff, he said, if the recruitment ban was not in place but “it is not just in relation to cleaning staff . . . we need to look at how we are managing the resources currently and certainly we have put plans in place that will allow us to effectively manage resources on the ground, be they cleaning staff or indeed our own staff cleaners.”
When journalist Michael Reade asked him if he was referring to supervisors, he replied, “correct”.
“I am looking to revamp what we have in relation to the contract side of things to allow us to actually provide that supervision that we need internally.”
Meanwhile, the coroner for Co Louth confirmed that not all of the deaths reported to him during the outbreak were found to have been caused by C diff.Inquests into the deaths found to have been related to the infection are expected to be held in the coming weeks.