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RollingNews.ie

Inspection finds operating department at Coombe maternity hospital not fit for purpose

The operating theatres, staff facilities and the storage of sterile supplies were all criticised.

AN UNANNOUNCED INSPECTION by health watchdog HIQA found that the operating department at the Coombe maternity hospital was not fit for purpose.

Two of the operating rooms were opened in 1967 and a further two were added in 1995. The report said the department design was outdated and “neither meets the desirable standards of a modern surgical facility nor facilitates the implementation of effective infection prevention and control measures”.

Its ventilation system also did not meet recommended specifications for a healthcare premises.

The report identified a number of risks which were uncovered during the inspection.

These included:

  • The infrastructure and design of the main operating theatre department did not meet international best practice guidelines and was not fit for purpose.
  • A number of doors and windows were left open allowing unfiltered air into the hospital.
  • Staff facilities were not up to standard for the amount of people who work in the city centre hospital.
  • There was a significant amount of exposed wire and pipes on ceilings and walls throughout the facility.
  • Sterile supplies were being inappropriately stored.
  • Surfaces and finishes in operating and adjoining rooms were not in line with guidelines for surgical facilities.
  • Window blinds, lighting fixtures and floor coverings did not facilitate effective cleaning.

HIQA said it it acknowledged that risks associated with the operating department were not the fault of staff at the hospital and was in need of major investment.

However, it added that some of the other risks identified could be addressed in the short-term.

HIQA said the hospital must now revise and amend its quality improvement plan so it complies with the standards it has been set.

In a statement, the Coombe hospital said it has accepted the watchdog’s conclusions.

A spokesperson said: “Patient safety is central to the care provided at the Coombe. For some considerable time, senior management has had extensive, ongoing engagement with the HSE concerning essential upgrading of the Theatre Department and a detailed business case for this work was submitted to the HSE earlier this year.

“Since HIQA’s visit, the Coombe has received notification that the Theatre Re-development Business Case has been approved by the HSE, and the hospital is currently awaiting details of the timeline for the necessary funding.

“In the interim, improvements are ongoing in the Theatre Department in advance of the planned major theatre redevelopment project. We will continue to improve our facilities within the existing infrastructural challenges to ensure a safe, high quality service for our patients.

“The Coombe acknowledges that the implementation of the HIQA recommendations will improve the quality of the care environment and the standard of service for both patients and staff.”

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31 Comments
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    Mute @mdmak33
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    Nov 16th 2016, 7:54 PM

    So it’s in bits,but no one held accountable,not even an apology this time from the hse.

    73
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    Mute john
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    Nov 16th 2016, 8:13 PM

    Dont expect an apology from the HSE. The shower could give a s…t what happens a patient..! but there excellent at cover ups when they f…k up.

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    Mute Linda
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    Nov 16th 2016, 8:24 PM

    @ CJ – There once was money floating about for everything, you would have thought that with all that money the country should have been left with great infrastructure, modern hospitals, good roads etc but it’s not. No point looking back but you have to ask, are the same people, that same mentality that got us into this mess, the right people to get up out? The answer is no. Now, I get that it’s not exactly the same people but it’s near enough. Blaming public servants because they want a pay rise is exactly what the g’ment want. Be angry at the g’ment and demand they find or way, the fact there’s always money when they need it, isn’t a coincidence.

    41
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    Mute CJ Stewart
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    Nov 17th 2016, 7:53 AM

    @Linda: tell us..were is the money ?

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    Mute Linda
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    Nov 17th 2016, 9:57 AM

    I don’t know, you’ll have to ask the minister for finance. While you’re there, will you ask him why the Dail gets an upgrade while hospitals are in that state?

    11
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    Mute CJ Stewart
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    Nov 16th 2016, 7:34 PM

    So in lay-mans terms…Doctors, Consultants, Garda , Teachers and the Public Service in general are all calling for strike action unless they get more money…but even the dogs in streets know that such level and lack of service within places like Coombe Hospital can only be improved with the injection of capital, which is obviously now going to be directed towards pay awards.

    So ultimately, we have one of the worst service levels and frameworks within western Europe , yet some of the highest paid people to work them..It’s like having a teacher or doctor being paid top salaries yet with no schools or hospitals to work in…simply because the very same people have taken all the resource themselves..they have some cheek complaining about the state of the services within which they work in..hypocritical if you ask me !

    31
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    Mute Linda
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    Nov 16th 2016, 7:44 PM

    Yes, the fault lies with the Guards, nurses and teachers…

    50
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    Mute Kerry Blake
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    Nov 16th 2016, 7:52 PM

    @CJ Stewart: CJ relax our TD’s have already voted themselves another €5000k a year so we can relax…

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    Mute simon o flaherty
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    Nov 16th 2016, 7:54 PM

    We can find money for banks within weeks, but when it comes to things that are really important, like our health and wellbeing. The money isnt there for hospitals but if AIB had a problem in the morning, it would get a cash injection by friday. Prioritys please government, Health before wealth.

    53
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    Mute CJ Stewart
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    Nov 16th 2016, 7:55 PM

    @Linda: YES..IT DOES ! ! !…the fault certainly does NOT lie with ordinary people who need or use that service..the simple matter of the issue is that this country is up to it’s neck in debt, poverty and homelessness. Ordinary working families are struggling, unemployment is still rife with current the figures being fudged, inward investment is negligible, rural Ireland is dying, the public transport framework outside Dublin is a joke, our medical service is a joke and even the very Post Offices across the country are being forced to close..WAKE UP AND SMELL THE BACON…take money from the right hand and the left hand suffers… There is NO magic money factory tucked away in Connemara, and the actions of Public Servants and their BLACKMAIL for pay increases is simply no more than greed..a greed at the expense of the rest of us…Coombe Hospital is a good example … tell me..how much are top executives , consultants and doctors getting paid in Coombe Hosptial ? …….

    17
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    Mute Tweed Cap
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    Nov 16th 2016, 7:55 PM

    The fault lays with the Government who can’t help themselves in squandering the tax dollars they mercilessly squeeze out of all us. Continuously subsiding various ongoing problems because the incompetent minister cronies they appoint won’t, can’t and don’t know how to fix them.

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    Mute CJ Stewart
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    Nov 16th 2016, 7:55 PM

    @Kerry Blake: two wrongs don’t make a right !

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    Mute Deirdre O' Flynn
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    Nov 16th 2016, 7:58 PM

    You obviously don’t know anyone working in public sector or you wouldn’t say such a thing.

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    Mute CJ Stewart
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    Nov 16th 2016, 8:00 PM

    @Deirdre O’ Flynn: Sorry Deirdre, I worked in it myself, and now work in the private sector..I see both sides…

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    Mute John B
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    Nov 16th 2016, 8:01 PM

    Cjstewart: if they are the highest paid doctors/nurses etc, why are so many leaving? Hint: comparing post tax doctors salaries in France with pre tax salaries in Ireland is misleading. Taking an average of all doctors salaries (interns to professor) in Germany and then comparing to consultants in Ireland is a lie. But that is how the last OECD comparison was done. Perhaps that is why we have so many Irish nurses in Australia and the Middle East, and why there are many empty doctors positions in Ireland: because the people who know(the staff themselves) have voted with their feet and moved to countries with higher salaries and better working conditions.

    29
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    Mute Deirdre O' Flynn
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    Nov 16th 2016, 8:01 PM

    Public servants use all these facilities too you know. Both myself and my husband and public servants and have had our wages but hugely since 2008. We see what’s happening in the inside and from the outside too. I understand people’s frustrations but public servants aren’t all on huge salaries be they administration or frontline staff. We pay taxes and use services like everyone else

    30
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    Mute Deirdre O' Flynn
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    Nov 16th 2016, 8:04 PM

    You’re entitled to your opinion but I’m sick of public servants getting stick about their wages. Only a small percentage are on big money. Rest are on normal wage with mortgages and bills just like everyone else. No bonuses or benefits.

    36
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    Mute Mic D
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    Nov 16th 2016, 10:37 PM

    @CJ
    This “injection of capital” should not be linked with the salaries of individuals who perform an integral role. The nursing and medical sector is crippled with an inability to employ a safe number of staff on either side due to an appalling lack of training infrastructure, an already skeletal work force (dangerously unsafe) and yes, poor remuneration which devalues their role.

    This problem is cyclical and is compounded by continuing to restrict any ability to make the sector attractive. Even the dog on the street knows that you can have a beautiful state of the art hospital but all the shiny surfaces make no odds when you can’t get Tom, Dick or Harry to work there.

    Nursing and medical staff are an expensively trained, competent and mobile asset that won’t commit to working and being miserable in the HSE, which shows no sign of realising just how bad things are. The healthcare sectors of Australia, Canada and the U.K. (to name only a few) will gladly accept those that the HSE/DOH do so little to keep!

    14
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    Mute EvieXVI
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    Nov 16th 2016, 10:42 PM

    @Deirdre O’Flynn: you’ve pretty much hit the nail on the head – it’s the top ‘tier’ – the management that needs their salaries cut and/or to their responsibilities seriously. Public or private sector, it’s the squeezed middle that are paying s**t loads and getting SFA. Why can’t pay restoration just apply to that group?

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    Mute hard yaka
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    Nov 16th 2016, 10:48 PM

    Everyone was on better money in 08 but it was a bubble. We cannot go back to paying government workers what they were getting in 08 it’s not right.

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    Mute EvieXVI
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    Nov 16th 2016, 10:49 PM

    *to take their responsibilities seriously*

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    Mute CJ Stewart
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    Nov 17th 2016, 7:39 AM

    @EvieXVI: The bottom line is simple..high public service pay is crippling the quality of the service they are providing.

    You can beat about the bush, blame this , blame that..you can verbally abuse people who attack the position of the public service, you can blame the Govt, the dogs on the streets or who ever you want..But it doesn’t take from the fact each govt dept is allocated a budget…if a large proportion of that budget go’s on salaries then there is limited service available, to insist on top level service as well is thus less than stupid…..

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    Mute Dara Kilmartin
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    Nov 16th 2016, 8:15 PM

    Is this another example of HIQA being used for political purposes to implement a government health strategy…ultra critical of long standing faults so that the unit transfer to St James’ can be hurried along?

    28
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    Mute Henry Fearon
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    Nov 16th 2016, 9:08 PM

    Just once it would be nice to see one of these reports saying “Satisfactory”. It’s such a shame to see so much taxpayers money and the on the ground staffs efforts being squandered by inept self serving management and zero accountability. For years reports like this have graced the news and the governments desks, but they continue to fail basic levels.

    25
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    Mute Kerry Blake
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    Nov 16th 2016, 7:50 PM

    Who I’m shocked did not Enda himself say the country was recovering?

    24
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    Mute Kerry Blake
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    Nov 16th 2016, 7:53 PM

    @Kerry Blake: *why

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    Mute CJ Stewart
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    Nov 16th 2016, 7:59 PM

    @Kerry Blake: The dogs on the streets know there is no recovery..but that doesn’t give people licence to sink the ship. This hospital is suffering severe lack of funding ..it’s a pity it’s consultants, doctors, executives etc didn’t suffer the same lack of funding..they can go on strike..but yet the cables will still swing down from the operating table ceiling !

    16
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    Mute throw9away
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    Nov 16th 2016, 7:43 PM

    I thought the plan was to knock the kip and build another beside James’s?

    18
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    Mute Daisy Chainsaw
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    Nov 17th 2016, 12:41 AM

    Dr Sharon Sheehan, Master of the Coombe said that she agrees with everything HIQA pointed out and she’d previously told management the theatres weren’t fit for purpose. Hopefully the HIQA report will force the upgrade and for women to have their babies in a safe, clean environment.

    15
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    Mute Dania Gohar
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    Nov 16th 2016, 9:47 PM

    What a great news…..at perfect tme when I am due in 5 weeks in there……As if I had less things to worry about already……Oh dear!!!!

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    Mute Lynne Anthony
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    Nov 17th 2016, 2:52 AM

    so, what happens now?

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