St Columcille’s Hospital gets poor hygiene rating

December 2008

THE WATER SUPPLY at St Columcille’s Hospital in Loughlinstown was contaminated with ‘legionella species,’ and patients in isolation wards were forced to share showering and toilet facilities, according to a recent hygiene audit.

It was also observed that records of cleaning the toilet and washing areas were not up to date in any of the areas visited and there was visible dirt on shower room floors. The Health Information and Quality Authority carried out an unannounced inspection at the hospital, leaving it with a rating of ‘poor’. The hospital received a rating of ‘fair’ in 2007.

‘If it were a restaurant, it would be closed down,’ remarked Deputy Billy Timmins.

Loughlinstown was one of nine hospitals nationwide to receive the ‘poor’ rating. 50 hospitals were inspected.

Cllr John Ryan, who last year warned members of the public to stay away from St. Columcille’s after a coroner expressed concern at the level of MRSA related deaths there, has called the most recent development ‘shocking.’

The report stated that in the Lourdes Ward 39 patients share one shower, one bath and seven toilets. There was visible dirt on the floor of the shower room. Ward areas were noted to be poorly ventilated.

‘From an infection point of view the report is damning,’ said Cllr Ryan. In the St Bridget’s Ward 23 patients, including five isolation patients, share one shower.

‘St Columcille’s needs isolation rooms with en-suite facilities,’ he said. ‘Not patients with contagious conditions sharing facilities. It is no surprise that there were high levels of MRSA.’