Hospitals caring for the elderly will be the subject of a hygiene audit next year, the Health Service Executive (HSE) has confirmed.
The news comes shortly after the results of the second national acute hospitals hygiene audit was made public. It looked at hygiene in 53 hospitals across the State, ranging from small local hospitals to large regional centres as well as the major Dublin hospitals.
Now the HSE says it plans to conduct a similar audit of hygiene levels in non-acute hospitals such as those caring for the elderly. These would include facilities such as St Mary's Hospital in the Phoenix Park, Dublin, which caters for a large number of elderly patients. A HSE spokesman said the audit would be conducted by an outside firm, in the same way as the audit of hygiene in acute hospitals was carried out.
The audit of hygiene levels in acute hospitals was carried out by Desford Consultancy Ltd but the HSE spokesman said it would have to invite fresh tenders for the audit of hygiene levels in non acute hospitals.
The plan by the HSE to subject hospitals for the elderly to a separate hygiene audit is in line with a recommendation made in the report of the second audit of hygiene levels in acute hospitals. It said that the HSE should "develop a strategy for hygiene audits for non acute hospitals". It is not yet clear whether psychiatric hospitals will be included in next year's audit.
The move has been welcomed by Age Action Ireland. Its spokesman, Gerry Scully, said: "Anything that improves conditions for the elderly is to be welcomed". He added that the audit should cover all units where older people are cared for.