Mayo University Hospital welcome publication of HIQA Inspection Report

Mayo University Hospital welcomes the publication of the HIQA report on the inspection of MUH which took place in August 2022. 

The focus of the inspection was to monitor the National Standards for Safer Better Healthcare. HIQA’s inspection focused on key standards relating to capacity and capability under the themes of leadership, governance and management and workforce.

The inspection visited the emergency department, a medical ward and a surgical ward.

The hospital was inspected on 15 standards. It was found to be Compliant in 3 areas, Substantially Compliant in 4, Partially Compliant in 5 and Non-Compliant in 3. Work is underway to progress actions to address issues highlighted in the report.

Following the inspection, HIQA sought assurances on infection screening practices, waiting times and staffing levels in the emergency department. HIQA was assured by hospital management’s response that COVID-19 screening practices were now aligned with national guidance and that contingencies were implemented to address issues with staffing to ensure the timely triage of patients.

MUH is taking a number of steps to ensure service user’s dignity, privacy and autonomy are respected and promoted. This includes plans to maximise the utilisation of St John’s ward. A multidisciplinary Quality Improvement Team formed in the emergency department with a patient experience advisor are looking at key areas to improve the existing department, including communication and patient flow and we are working with the National HPVP team to achieve this.

In a bid to address patient’s length of stay, a bed utilisation survey has been completed to provide a framework for actions to support patient flow. A Length of Stay working group has also been established with three teams focusing on access and pathways, effective inpatient management, ward rounds and inpatient day case conversion. This work is underway and has already resulted in an improvement in our Length of Stay since August, 2022. Plans are also underway to open an acute medical ambulatory review clinic and a discharge lounge early next year which will promote early discharge. The hospital is continuing to actively address the cause and impact of delayed discharges and transfers, with our community partners.

During the course of the inspection, HIQA observed staff actively engaging with patients in a respectful and kind way. We want to acknowledge and thank our staff for the dedication to improving the patients experience and outcomes in MUH.  

HIQA also acknowledged the need to urgently build additional capacity within the whole healthcare system.

MUH is focused on the capacity needs on the site. The planned new ED and Acute Medical Assessment Unit will increase space for both admitted and non-admitted patients. It will double the resuscitation bay capacity and free up the AMAU.

The hospital is also working with HSE Estates technical function to progress updating the Development Control Plan and ward feasibility study for MUH with the intention to progress a new 75 bedded ward block with 50 new and 25 replacement beds.

Catherine Donohoe Hospital Manager at Mayo University Hospital said, “We welcome this report and recognise the important and valuable role of HIQA in promoting safety and quality in the healthcare services. I want to thank the HIQA team for the detail they put into this report and the time spent with our team in MUH to complete this inspection. Urgent action was taken following the visit to address issues identified by HIQA and significant progress has been made by staff to ensure that we provide our services safely. The building/infrastructure in some areas of MUH is old and we are restricted by capacity in all areas of service this requires significant investment to bring it up to current standards, this is and will continue to be challenging. The quality improvement plan in place for the areas requiring  improvement has commenced we are all committed to ensuring all items on this plan are fully implemented. I want to thank the MUH staff for their positive engagement with the HIQA team while on site and for participating in developing the improvement plan to ensure MUH is fully aligned with the national standards for safer better health care."

ENDS