St Luke’s General Hospital for Carlow and Kilkenny has been found to be compliant or substantially compliant with 10 national standards and partially compliant with another in the the latest HIQA report.
The statutory, government-funded agency, which monitors the safety and quality of the healthcare and social care systems in Ireland, carried out an unannounced inspection of the local facility in April.
It found while there was an overall good level of compliance, there was scope for improving patient experience times for those aged over 75 years while the busyness of staff was noted.
It notes; “On the first day of inspection the ED was operating well relative to its intended capacity with 18 patients registered in the ED and six admitted patients in the ED cubicles awaiting an inpatient bed. The hospital had defined management arrangements in place to manage and oversee the delivery of care and the hospital was achieving most of the national targets for patient experience times (PETs) which is commendable. However there was scope for improving PETs for patients aged 75 years old or more. From the start of 2024 up to the week of inspection, the overall attendance rate at the hospital’s ED was 8% higher when compared to the same period in 2023.
“Risks related to staffing were documented by the hospital on the corporate risk register and ongoing recruitment and alternative strategies were in place to mitigate risks. Patients were generally complimentary about care received in the ED and wards visited but referenced how busy staff were. Inspectors noted that the physical environment broadly supported the delivery of high-quality, safe, reliable care and protected the health and welfare of patients; however, there were opportunities to further improve upkeep of the physical environment. The hospital had systems in place to monitor, evaluate and improve healthcare services. The hospital needs to make continuous improvements based on findings from previous audits. The hospital also had systems in place to identify and manage potential risk associated with the areas of known harm that were the focus of this inspection. Overall, good levels of compliance had been maintained since the previous inspection.”
Stay tuned for more on The KCLR Daily (10am-1pm).
Meanwhile, it’s as the union Fórsa is due to raise HSE staffing levels with the Oireachtas Health Committee today.
