THE HEALTH Information and Quality Authority moved yesterday to clarify confusion over whether it had received a formal complaint about the standard of care at Mallow General Hospital before it began an investigation into the hospital.
Hiqa said it had received “confidential information about treatment that a patient received” in the hospital but said it was not a “formal complaint”.
It gave no further details as to whether the information came from the patient, a relative of a patient or a member of staff, when the complaint was made, what period of time it related to or what type of treatment was involved.
However, the authority did say in its statement that the information indicated that the type of care provided to patients undergoing certain treatments in the north Cork hospital “was not in line with the national recommendations made in the Ennis report”.
In its report on Ennis General Hospital, the authority highlighted risks arising from low numbers of patients being treated for certain conditions, and the clinical staffing cover possible in Ennis and similar-sized hospitals such as Mallow.
Cork East Labour TD Sean Sherlock said if there was no specific complaint in relation to a patient at the hospital, then the issue of standard of care could be adequately addressed by the HSE through its programme of reconfiguration, which is under way at Cork hospitals.
A member of the Mallow Hospital Action Group, Mr Sherlock said for Hiqa to launch an investigation without a specific patient complaint when the reconfiguration process was already examining services at Mallow amounted to “duplication”.
Hiqa said it became concerned about the range of treatment provided at Mallow and it sought assurances from the HSE on how patient care was provided at the hospital. “The information received from the HSE did not assure the authority that the risks to patient care that had been identified [at Mallow General Hospital] were being adequately addressed.”