The intensive care unit at Cavan General Hospital has been closed to new admissions as a result of an outbreak of an antibiotic-resistant superbug. Eithne Donnellan, Health Correspondent, reports.
The Health Service Executive (HSE) said last night that two cases of VRE or vancomycin-resistant enterococcus had been confirmed in the unit.
The bug is considered to be more serious than MRSA and the HSE said the unit would be closed to admissions "until further notice".
Doctors have been informed that if any patient in the Cavan/Monaghan region becomes acutely ill and needs an intensive care bed, they should transfer them to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda.
The clear direction to staff comes ahead of the expected publication later this month of the report into the death of Pat Joe Walsh, who bled to death at Monaghan General Hospital late last year after staff tried unsuccessfully to source an intensive care bed for him at hospitals in Cavan and Drogheda.
It was claimed at the time that both these hospitals told staff in Monaghan they had no intensive care beds available for Mr Walsh. It later transpired both had vacant beds.
There have been a small number of outbreaks of VRE in hospitals throughout the State in recent years. Last summer, there was an outbreak at Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin, Dublin, while an outbreak at Our Lady's Hospital in Navan resulted in operations being cancelled for a period in 2004.