Patients at the two regional hospitals in Galway will be able to get a comprehensive and quick response to complaints about treatment, according to a draft complaints procedure.
The draft was shown to the hospitals' management advisory group and released under the Freedom of Information Act.
It promises immediate investigation of complaints from patients to be completed within 20 days of receipt.
The response to the patient "should include an appropriate apology where things have gone wrong and details of what is being done to prevent a recurrence", the document says.
Where patients or their families are unhappy with the clinical care received, they will be allowed to meet the consultant in charge of the case, with nurses and other personnel in attendance if necessary. They will see the hospital records and get "a full clinical explanation of the circumstances involved". They will usually be accompanied by their family doctor, it says.
If people are not happy with the outcome of the investigation they can lodge an appeal with the hospitals' Complaints Appeals Committee. If the original decision is upheld the complainant will be reminded that he or she has a right to complain to the Office of the Ombudsman.
The move by the Galway hospitals - Merlin Park and University Hospital Galway - is very much in line with the view of medical defence bodies who believe people often sue hospitals because they feel they have not been given a fair hearing.
If the Galway complaints procedure is seen to work it is likely to be adopted by many other hospitals.
Children's hospital volunteers will receive training and support under a new programme launched in Dublin on Monday.
The Children in Hospital Volunteer Support Programme has been launched to coincide with the UN International Year of the Volunteer.
The newly appointed volunteer support officer, Ms Claire Connaughton, will implement the programme which will include on-ward training, social activities for volunteers and liaison between hospital staff and volunteers. Volunteers work to support parents and as confidants and friends to ill children. Support is given to the programme by the Department of Health and Children, the Irish Youth Foundation and the National Committee on Volunteering.
Hospital workers who smoke can expect increasing pressure to stop, if Prof Luke Clancy has his way. "We have to make hospitals non-smoking," says Prof Clancy, who has become chairman of the Health Promoting Hospitals Network in Ireland. "One of the worst aspects of the smoking epidemic is to see hospital staff smoking. I would feel healthcare staff, doctors and nurses particularly, must take responsibility. I really do think it is important for healthcare staff not to smoke."
The network of more than 60 health promoting hospitals is pushing for a healthy and safe environment for staff and patients.
The numbers of patients admitted to the National Spinal Injuries Unit in Dublin's Mater Hospital has grown from 66 in 1991 to an estimated 220 this year. Of the admissions, 42 per cent follow injuries received at home or in the workplace, 37 per cent result from road traffic accidents, 9.5 per cent follow sporting activities and 3 per cent are for injuries received in assaults. Horse-riding accidents account for most of the sporting injuries, followed by swimming and diving, with rugby in third position.
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