JUST ONE of the State’s 29 main hospitals achieved a strongly positive rating under a new Health Service Executive (HSE) league table published yesterday.
The HSE’s “HealthStat” programme, launched last year, provides a snapshot of health services by measuring performance in areas such as waiting times for operations and quality of care.
However, in the latest monthly assessment of health services using the system, only Waterford Regional Hospital received an overall rating of green, indicating a “very good performance”. It was the first green rating to be given under the new system.
The December 2009 HealthStat analysis shows Waterford Regional Hospital achieved a “green light” for very good performance in each of the three areas measured – access to services, patient-centredness and best use of human and financial resources.
Twenty-five hospitals received an amber rating, indicating an “average performance” against national targets, while two, Merlin Park Hospital Galway and University College Hospital Galway, were ranked as red, or “unsatisfactory and requiring urgent attention”.
Waterford Regional Hospital’s general manager Patricia Sullivan said: “We are absolutely delighted that the evidence is there to demonstrate the efforts being made for patients to access both local and regional services at WRH.”