Saolta says it is aware of two incidents where groups have spread dis-information at its hospital sites.
Responding to queries from Highland Radio News about an incident last week at Letterkenny University Hospital, Saolta says it cannot comment on individual cases, but has grave concerns about the impact of this type of activity on both patients and staff.
They say the deliberate spreading of dis-information and at times defamatory comments against named staff members along with the posting of these videos on social media platforms is adding significantly to the burden already facing healthcare professionals.
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Statement in full –
The Saolta University Healthcare Group is aware of two incidents where groups have spread dis-information at its hospital sites.
Saolta has grave concerns about the impact of this type of activity on both patients and staff.
Patient safety and care is of paramount importance to the group. Hospitals across the region are under extreme pressure as a result of record levels of attendances of both Covid and non-Covid patients.
The deliberate spreading of dis-information and at times defamatory comments against named staff members along with the posting of these videos on social media platforms is adding significantly to the burden already facing healthcare professionals.
While Saolta endeavours to facilitate patient visiting when possible, incidence like this are highly disruptive and upsetting in clinical settings.
We cannot comment on individual cases. Maintaining a patient’s confidentiality is not only an ethical requirement for the HSE and all HSE funded hospitals; it is also a legal requirement as defined in the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) along with the Data Protection Acts 1988 – 2018. When a patient or family makes personal information public, this does not relieve the HSE and all HSE funded hospitals of its duty to preserve/uphold patient confidentiality at all times.”
All hospitals under the Saolta governance are facilitating patient visiting in line with national guidance.
All visits to in-patients are pre-arranged and facilitated at the request of the patient. People coming to the hospital must continue to follow all the public health guidance including wearing a face mask and using hand gel regularly. Visitors are required to complete a screening checklist regarding COVID-19, prior to visiting the hospital.
If any member of the public fails to follow these guidelines while on site they are asked to leave the hospital.
Members of the security team are involved in any incident which escalates and An Garda Siochána are involved where appropriate.
In respect of the national COVID-19 vaccination programme, and the treatment of patients who have been hospitalised due to COVID-19, we advise people to get their information from reputable sources, and follow the public health advice that is available on hse.ie and gov.ie.
Please see also HSE advice on fake news: https://www2.hse.ie/wellbeing/dealing-with-fake-health-information-during-the-coronavirus-pandemic.html
