HIQA report on Portiuncula Hospital praises staff but critical of reporting accuracy

A HIQA report has praised staff at Portiuncula Hospital, but inspectors are critical of the accuracy of some elements of its reporting system.

An inspection was carried out in May of this year, to rate the hospital on 14 National Standards.

The hospital has been advised to revise its system of transferring patients to an ‘ED virtual ward’ due to its effects on data collection.

Of the 14 standards inspected, the hospital was found to be compliant with one, substantially compliant with eight, partially compliant with four and non-compliant with one.

The hospital has been rated highly for its culture of kindness, consideration and respect – with staff receiving very positive feedback from patients

Inspectors highlighted that patients are being transferred to an ED virtual ward – which means patients are not registered as being in the ED despite being physically present

Hospital management has been asked to review this system, as those patients are not included in the patient experience time performance data reported to the HSE.

Meanwhile, Portiuncula’s outdated infrastructure resulted in a non-compliance rating for the quality and safety of its physical environment

However, the hospital says since the inspection in May, work has been done to improve that – while a 50 bed ward block is due for completion in August