Patients lift lid on hygiene, infection

Patients have rated Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda as the dirtiest in the country, in the latest statistics from irishhealth.com's Rate My Hospital facility.

And other figures from Rate My Hospital (www.ratemyhospital.ie) show that Cork University Hospital and St Vincent's in Dublin have the highest level of hospital infections such as MRSA, as reported by patients and their relatives.

These results follow a recent EU-wide survey which showed that two thirds-of Irish people feel they are at risk of contracting a healthcare-associated infection if they go into hospital.

In the latest Rate My Hospital hygiene league table, the five hospitals that scored worst for hygiene standards were Kerry General, Ennis, Limerick Regional, Waterford Regional and Our Lady of Lourdes Drogheda, which finished in last place out of 45 acute public hospitals.

Nearly 20,000 patients and their relatives have now rated hospitals on the Rate My Hospital website. They are asked to rate hospital services under 23 different headings, including hygiene, on a scale of one to five. Our Lady of Lourdes scored an average of only 2.47 out of five in the ratings.

Rate My Hospital is the only patient-driven quality guide to hospital care in Ireland.

The cleanest hospital in the country, with a score of 4.26 out of five, is St John's in Limerick, with Mallow, Monaghan, the Rotunda and Bantry hospitals also in the top five.

Of the "big six" major Dublin hospitals, Connolly Hospital in Blanchardstown has been voted the cleanest, in sixth place, with a score of 3.89, with St James's next in 20th place out of 45 with a score of 3.42.

The worst-performing of the "big six" in the hygiene table is Beaumont in 35th place, with a score of 3.09. The overall average score nationally for hospital cleanliness is 3.35 out of five.

View the full hygiene "league table" here

Some recent comments on hospital hygiene posted on Rate My Hospital include the following:

Lourdes Drogheda (45th in hygiene ratings)
"Poor care. filthy. blood on my headrest not mine. Toilet not hygienic..."

Coombe, Dublin (40th in league table)
"I had to find clean bed clothes and change my own bed as the sheets were covered in blood."

St Columcille's, Loughlinstown (39th in hygiene ratings)
"I really don't know how I didn't contract MRSA. The hospital is filthy!"

Hospitals that performed poorly in the latest Rate My Hospital hygiene ratings also did badly in the most recent national hygiene audit carried out by HIQA. Ennis, Drogheda and St Columcille's, all in the bottom rankings in the Rate My Hospital table, also received a "poor" score in the HIQA audit.

Statistics from Rate My Hospital also show that 13% of patients attending Cork University Hospital and St Vincent's Hospital in Dublin have reported that they contracted a healthcare-associated infection such as MRSA.

These hospitals had the highest levels of patient-reported hospital bugs.

The lowest level of hospital infection was reported in St John's in Limerick, at 1%, followed in joint second place by Limerick Regional Maternity, Monaghan and Portlaoise Hospitals, at 3%.

Of the "big five" Dublin hospitals, Connolly Hospital, Blanchardstown had the lowest infection rate at 7%, followed by Tallaght at 8%.

The overall national hospital infection rate as reported by patients and their relatives on Rate My Hospital was 7%.

View the full hospital infection "league table" here

See also 'Most people fear hospital infection - poll'

[Posted: Mon 03/05/2010]