Evidence of blood stains, dust and a poor uptake of hand hygiene practices were discovered during an unannounced inspection of the Clonmel Health Facility last month.
South Tipperary General is a 193 bed acute general hospital which caters for a catchment area of up to 134,000 across South Tipp, West Waterford and parts of North Tipperary – It also has Outreach clinics at several locations including Thurles, Tipperary Town and Cashel.
This latest inspection by the Health Information and Quality Authority carried out on the 10th of July focused on Intensive Care, Coronary Care and Medical One- or Saint Monica's Ward.
Overall the Intensive care Unit was clean but Inspectors found blood stains on a blood gas machine while in Saint Monica's ward red stains were found on mattress cover and pillow.
Patient equipment in Coronary Care such as thermometer probes, blood pressure cuffs and a commode were found to be unclean- while it also had unacceptable levels of dust on skirting boards, curtain rails and bed frames. Dust was also found in Medical one while patient sanitary facilities in both areas were unclean.
Inspectors also found hand hygiene was low on the day in question in July but they admitted that it was based on a low sample.
At the end of the inspection- the team were informed that the General Manager had only been in the position for two months and was keen to express a commitment that compliance with Infection Prevention and Control Standards would be achieved at South Tipp General- they were also told hospital governance is under review
