HIQA has found long wait times continue at Letterkenny University Hospital’s Emergency Department with patient and ambulance wait times requiring improvements also.
Inspectors however, say that the level 3 hospital had defined management arrangements in place to manage and oversee the delivery of care.
During the unannounced inspection to assess compliance with the National Standards for Safer Better Healthcare inspectors spoke with patients, staff and management.
Inspectors say the hospital needs to ensure recommendations from the Bed Utilisation Study carried out in 2022 are implemented. According to the report, delayed transfers of care further compounded the issue of availability of inpatient beds at the hospital and impacted on waiting times in the emergency department.
HIQA found that hospital management were planning, organising and managing their nursing, medical and support staff in the hospital to support the provision of high-quality, safe healthcare.
The staffing levels in nursing, pharmacy and antimicrobial stewardship had improved since a previous inspection however, attendance at and uptake of mandatory and essential training still required improvement.
It was highlighted that the dignity, privacy and confidentiality of patients accommodated on corridors was compromised.
An improvement to ambulance turnaround times at the hospital was also noted by HIQA inspectors while it still fell below the recommended timeframe.
You can view the full report here
