Information on potentially fatal ‘superbug’ infections in all hospitals will be published next month, Minister for Health Mary Harney said today.
Ms Harney was responding to a call by a coroner for urgent intervention at St Columcille’s Hospital, Loughlinstown, after 16 people died from hospital-acquired infections there over a seven-month period last year.
Of the 16 deaths, 10 cases relate to Clostridium difficile, known as C diff.
Ms Harney confirmed today a microbiologist post had been sanctioned for the south Dublin hospital but said the job had not yet been filled.
She said C diff had been made a notifiable disease to make it easier to monitor. All of the data gathered would be published on a hospital-by-hospital basis next month, she added.
Dr Donal O’Shea, a consultant endocrinologist at the Loughlinstown hospital, said any death from a hospital-related infection was “a particular tragedy”, and he admitted the deaths at St Columcille’s were a cause for concern.
“There is no doubt that the superbugs are a major challenge to the delivery of safe, effective health care both at the moment and into the future,” he said.
"It's a major challenge for the health service, partly because of the improved antibiotics that we have to treat infections but it's brought with it certain problems and that's going to take time to address," he told RTÉ's News at One.
Dr O’Shea said an infection-control officer had been in place in Loughlinstown for the past 18 months and the appointment of a microbiologist was “an essential addition to that”. The post is funded but had yet to be made, he said. “It can’t happen quick enough."
Labour Party leader Eamon Gilmore said no further delay on the part of the HSE in appointing a consultant microbiologist for St Columcille's Hospital could be justified.
“It is after all a matter of life and death,” he said.
“While there may be a general appreciation on the front line in hospitals as to the necessity of maintaining hygiene, the lack of qualified personnel to oversee the implementation of the necessary policies makes it very difficult for hospitals to implement the high standards required.”
Fine Gael Seanad health spokesperson senator Frances Fitzgerald said today the Loughlinstown cases once again "highlight the twin threats of overcrowding and under-resourcing of infection control".
“The Minister has a serious task ahead in trying to reassure patients of their safety in Irish hospitals and denying their fears exist is not an inspiring start."
In a statement this afternoon, St. Columcille's Hospital said it was aware of the need to appoint a microbiologist as "a matter of urgency," and added that in the interim it was receiving microbiology advice on request from St Vincent's University Hospital.