Most Irish fear harm in hospital

MORE THAN half of Irish people fear they will be harmed while receiving treatment in hospital, according to a new European Union survey.

When questioned how likely they felt it was that patients could be harmed by hospital care, 55 per cent of Irish respondents said they believed it was likely, the joint 11th highest rate across the 27 EU member states and some 5 per cent higher than the EU average.

Greek citizens, at 83 per cent, believed patients in their country were most likely to be harmed in hospital, followed by Cyprus (81 per cent) and Latvia (75 per cent). Residents of Austria (19 per cent) and Finland (27 per cent) were least concerned.

Twenty per cent of Irish participants in the EU Barometer survey said they or a family member had experienced an adverse event while in hospital, some 6 per cent below the EU 27 average. A total of 1,000 citizens were surveyed in each of the 27 EU member states.

Some 53 per cent of Irish respondents believed good quality healthcare was on offer here, considerably below the EU average of 70 per cent. Just 11 per cent of Irish respondents felt the quality of healthcare here was better than in other EU countries.

Some 71 per cent of Irish people felt they were likely to contract a hospital infection, the fifth highest rate across the 27 member states. Some 55 per cent of Irish respondents feared they would fall victim to incorrect, delayed or missed diagnosis.