AN INFLUENZA outbreak in St Ita's Hospital in Portrane, Co Dublin, has resulted in the death of an elderly patient and left another in intensive care, it emerged yesterday.
Six others patients from the old-age psychiatry ward at St Ita's are being treated in Dublin's Beaumont Hospital.
The Health Service Executive (HSE) yesterday insisted that it dealt promptly with the outbreak and that public health specialists were on hand to advise and assist in the treatment of patients.
In a statement, the HSE said patients in the old-age psychiatry ward began to develop flu-like symptoms between March 6th and 18th.
All patients were seen and examined by medical staff during this time, the statement said.
When the condition of one patient deteriorated last Sunday she was transferred to Beaumont Hospital, where she died the next day. A further seven patients from this ward were also transferred to the hospital, one of whom remains in intensive care.
Tests have confirmed they contracted Influenza type A. This is the most common form of the virus and is associated with increased rates of hospitalisation and, in very serious cases, death.
A spokeswoman said infection control procedures and visiting restrictions are in place. There are no similar cases in adjacent wards. Precautionary measures had been taken on the advice of public health experts, she added.
St Ita's was at the centre of a previous controversy involving older patients some years ago when it emerged that an alarming number who were being transferred to Leas Cross nursing home were dying within a relatively short period of time. Also, conditions in St Ita's have been criticised on numerous occasions by mental health inspectors.
They say large open wards and lack of basic amenities such as toilets in some parts of the building make it unsuitable. While the latest report of the Inspector of Mental Health Services in 2006 raised concerns over facilities at the hospital, it gave the old-age psychiatry ward a generally favourable review.
The HSE plans to develop a new facility on the grounds of Beaumont Hospital which will replace St Ita's. However, campaigners say land earmarked at the site is being handed over to build a new private co-located hospital, even though the new psychiatric unit has been planned for more than a decade. This, however, has been rejected by the HSE.