Poor hygiene down to resources, says Beaumont consultant

A senior consultant at Dublin's Beaumont Hospital has blamed the hospital's sub-optimal hygiene standards on a lack of resources.

The Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) published a report yesterday, suggesting patient safety was being compromised at the hospital by poor hygiene standards.

The hospital 's head of transplantation, David Hickey, said, however, his ward was housed in a temporary portacabin-style building that was "not built for purpose".

“It’s crowded. It’s dark. There’s no air conditioning. It’s a stressful place to work.”

Dr Hickey said the conditions were not conducive to maintaining first rate hygiene standards.

To clean a hospital bedroom properly, he said, it needed to be vacant for at least 12 hours.

“When you’re running at 110 per cent occupancy, as we are in our hospital, it’s impossible for management to get the place empty for a sufficient amount of time to do the job properly.

“Every room after a patient is churned should be fogged with peroxide to make sure it’s absolutely sterile.”

However, in an interview on RTÉ Radio’s Morning Ireland, he admitted this was only being done in “problem cases” .

During a July inspection, Hiqa inspectors found hand hygiene practices of medical staff were not in line with best practice.

Of 60 “hand hygiene opportunities” observed by inspectors, only 28 were taken by staff, and 25 complied with best practice.

The neurosurgical intensive care unit was described as “clean but cluttered”, and the clutter impeded effective cleaning.

In the transplant ward inspectors reported a sticky residue on headboards and glucometer containers stained with a blood-like substance.