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Support Services
Mayo University Hospital Support Services
Our directorates are well supported with clinical and non-clinical departments including Health and Social Care professionals, Quality & Safety department, Medical Records, HR, Maintenance and Finance. We also work very closely with outside contractors in the supply of our Catering and Cleaning requirements.
Quality and Patient Safety (QPS)
The Quality and Patient Safety Team at Mayo University Hospital supports the delivery of excellent, safe and effective person-centred care at all times. We work under the HSE values of care, compassion, trust and learning to facilitate further strengthening and improvement of quality & patient safety in healthcare through partnership with patients, staff and the community we serve. Click here to learn more about our team and how to provide feedback or make a complaint.
Our Quality & Patient Safety Team aims to:
- Listen to your concerns, suggestions or queries.
- Listen to what went well and share your positive feedback with staff.
- Advise and support patients, carers and families.
- Provide information on Mayo University Hospital services.
- Help to sort out problems quickly on your behalf and put you in touch with other sources of help.
- Facilitate learning and quality improvement initiatives based on incidents & feedback.
- Support patient & family involvement in the planning, delivery & evaluation of care.
Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS)
PALS provides a confidential and impartial liaison service for patients and their carers. PALS can offer support and advice, respond to any concerns you may have and can take your comments and suggestions for service improvements.
Your care will not be adversely affected by contacting PALS, rather we hope it will improve your experience and make things better for you and others. Some concerns take a little longer to resolve than others, PALS will support you until the matter has been resolved. If we are unable to sort things out to your satisfaction we will advise you on the formal complaints process and what you need to do.
Lorraine Cooney, PALS Coordinator can be contacted Monday – Friday on 094 904 2172 or 087 943 6046 or MUH.PALS@hse.ie For more information please view our leaflet
Engagement
Promoting Patient Engagement
“Nothing About Me Without Me”
As a patient, staff or member of the public we hope you will find this website a useful means of engagement with your Hospital. Please click here to learn more about our Patient Engagement Forum
Staff Engagement
We also welcome and encourage feedback, suggestions or opportunities from our staff. Staff may email MUH.StaffEngagement@hse.ie
Please click here to learn more about our Staff Engagement Forum
Compliments, Feedback & Complaints
Your experience matters
We welcome and encourage feedback and suggestions from you on the service we provide. Please submit your feedback to the following email address MUHPatientFeedback@hse.ie or into a feedback post box located in different areas around the hospital.
How do I Make a Complaint?
Stage 1:
The best way to raise any concern is to speak to the nurse, doctor or other staff member who is looking after you. If they cannot resolve the issue or you are unhappy with their response, their line manager can also support you.
Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS)
PALS provides a liaison service for Patients, Carers and Visitors.
To get in touch with PALS, Phone 094 904 2172 or 087 943 6046 or Email MUH.PALS@hse.ie include your name, contact details and brief details of your concern.
If we feel an issue needs to be escalated as a complaint we will advise you on this process.
Stage 2:
Formal Complaints
We try to resolve all complaints as quickly and efficiently as possible and this is often via the PALS Service. However, you have a right to make a formal complaint without going through the Stage 1 process above or if you are unhappy with the response you received initially. You can of course in this instance request that your concerns or complaints are dealt with formally.
Feedback and complaints are really important to us; they help us to identify faults or areas for improvements. We treat any complaint seriously, looking into all issues raised with respect, fairness and confidentiality; ensuring your complaint does not affect your current or future treatment.
If you would like to make a complaint, this should normally be made within twelve months of the event you wish to complain about, or within twelve months of the date you found out about the problem. For national information, please visit:
We aim to:
- acknowledge your complaint either verbally or in writing within 5 working days
- we might call or ask to meet you to hear more about it
- provide a full response by letter or email as requested, within the agreed timescale
- contact you to ask for more time, if needed
- keep you updated every 20 working days after that
If you are not happy with the outcome of your complaint, you can ask for an internal review by the HSE. You can also ask for an external review from the Ombudsman or the Ombudsman for Children.
Advocacy
If you would like support in making your complaint, an advocacy organisation may help you to do this. For more information, please visit:
https://www.hse.ie/eng/services/yourhealthservice/feedback/services/
Learning from Feedback
We see feedback from patients and families as an opportunity to recognise excellence, learn from mistakes and to make improvements. We aim to build confidence in the complaints system by sharing some of the positive outcomes from feedback in order to encourage people to speak up and share their concerns as a vital part of improving the patient experience.
Communication Training
As a result from feedback we have initiated a hospital wide communication training package. This involved bespoke communication training for our Emergency Department staff as well as the role out of the National Healthcare Communication Programme (NHCP) which is designed to support healthcare staff to take a skilled, sensitive and person-centred approach to all conversations with patients, their families and with colleagues. The Programme is under-pinned by the Core Values of Care, Compassion, Trust and Learning. We are also supporting our own staff to be trained to deliver this training on an ongoing basis.
Volunteering in Mayo University Hospital
Volunteer With Us
The MUH Volunteer Service has had over 50 members of the community participating in the scheme since its inception in March 2012, with volunteers ensuring patients and visitors have a warm, friendly welcome and are assisted with directions and any information needed.
Our Meet and Greet volunteers are members of the public from various walks of life - what they offer is a willingness to help others accessing acute hospital services. Please consider joining our volunteer team and help us:
- Give a friendly welcome and a reassuring first impression to all who enter the hospital
- Observe for and offer assistance to people who look lost or unsure of where they are going
- Provide directions
- Ensure patients are in the right queue for outpatients/x-ray etc
- Assist with accompanying patients to various departments
- Supply information and answer queries, for example visiting times, shop opening times
Catherine Donohoe, Hospital Manager said, “Patients are at the heart of everything we do and this is most true for our volunteers who demonstrate this in the care, laughs and smiles that they exchange with our patients. Our volunteers bring the energy and enthusiasm of members of the local community who want to give something back, into the hospital.”
If you wish to volunteer with us, you can discuss with Brendan Coyne, our Lead Volunteer on 086 155 0035 and/or please complete this form and send back to the Patient Engagement & Partnership Improvement Coordinator, Quality and Patient Safety Department, Mayo University Hospital, Castlebar, Co. Mayo, Ireland, F23 H529 or via email to Ciara.McLaughlin1@hse.ie 094 904 2171
If you need any additional support with the application process, Ciara or Brendan will be happy to support you.
Download the Volunteer Service application form here
Assisted Decision Making
26th of April 2023 has been set as the day for the abolition of wardship, the operationalisation of the Decision Support Service, and the introduction of a new system of tiered decision-making supports. For more information please visit the following links: