HIQA identifies improvements needed at Letterkenny University Hospital



A HIQA report has found that Letterkenny University Hospital must address clinical governance and medical staffing levels at the hospital’s Emergency Department.

In inspections carried out at the hospital in November and December 2022, the Emergency Department was noted to be overcrowded.

The report has found the hospital was meeting some HSE key performance indicators for the management of patient waiting times in the Emergency Department, however, it remained overcrowded.

There was also limited evidence that comprehensive processes were in place to fully manage and respond to certain patient safety incidents as effectively as required.

In relation to gynaecology services at the hospital, there was good evidence that patient satisfaction surveys and from meeting with staff that improvements have been progressed in the service.

While HIQA found examples of a number of positive initiatives designed to enhance patient care, further immediate work was required to address deficits in a number of areas, namely: the comprehensive infection screening programme for patients; to improve learning from patient incidents; to fully implement the clinical handover of patients; and to and fully integrate safe processes to manage emergency department patient attendances at the hospital.



Related