A Letterkenny Town councillor has slammed the findings of a report into cleanliness at Letterkenny General Hospital.
Gerry McMonagle
Sinn Fein Councillor Gerry McMonagle said he is dismayed by the findings of the HIQA report and said management must act immediately on it.
Dirty baths threatening the health of newborns were among a catalogue of neglect posing a significant risk to patients at the hospital.
Other comments related to the management at Letterkenny General Hospital where health chiefs described the management as being lax in relation to allowing rooms where chemicals, painkillers and other strong medications remain unlocked.
Cllr Mc Monagle said: This is a very damming report on the cleanliness of the hospital and one that the management at the hospital must address immediately.
“What we don’t want is for the hard working staff at the hospital to be held responsible for this damming report.
“For a long time now I and my colleagues have been flagging up to the hospital management and indeed the Minister of Health James Reilly what the effects of their cutbacks to the health service would produce, and now we have the evidence which in the wording of the report would suggest that the physical environment was not effectively managed and maintained to protect patients and reduce the spread of healthcare associated infections”
He said hospital management must study the report in detail and said they cannot continue to try and run a large hospital like Letterkenny on a shoe string budget.
“Patients who are already ill should not be open to further infections due to cutbacks in staffing levels” the management must stand up and fight for extra resources from the government instead of trying to implement their failing health policies.
“I am now calling on Dr James Reilly to make extra resources available to the hospital management and not to allow the blame for this report to rest with the hardworking staff of the hospital as governments often do.”