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HIQA Quality Improvement

St Michael’s Hospital Quality Improvement Plan for compliance with the National standards for the prevention and control of healthcare associated infections

The Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) undertake an unannounced monitoring assessment in St Michael’s Hospital against the National standards for the prevention and control of healthcare associated infections (PCHCAI 2017). The standards cover eight themes including risk management, decontamination of equipment and the health and well-being of patients. All the standards are outcome-based, meaning that each standard provides a specific outcome for the service to meet. Monitoring against the infection prevention and control standards is assessed annually with a particular focus, including but not limited to environment and hand hygiene, under the following headings:

  • Standard 2.5  Service providers identify and manage a patient’s infection prevention and control healthcare needs in a timely and effective manner.
  • Standard 2.6  Healthcare is provided in a clean and safe physical environment that minimises the risk of transmitting healthcare associated infection.
  • Standard 3.4 Service providers adhere to hand hygiene practices to minimise the risk of acquiring or transmitting infection.

The report of the inspection in 2017 is published on the HIQA website.

In the unannounced inspection, undertaken in October 2017, the authority found evidence of good practice across the areas examined however they also identified some opportunities for improvement.

In line with the recommendations in the HIQA report, St Michael’s hospital management has developed a Quality improvement plan (QIP) that prioritises the improvements necessary to comply with the National standards for the prevention and control of healthcare associated infections. The HIQA QIP implementation committee has reviewed and approved this plan.

St Michael’s hospital will continue to work closely and in tandem with HIQA to monitor the implementation of the QIP and hospital key performance indicators to provide assurances to the public that the hospital is implementing and meeting the National standards and is making quality and safety improvements that safeguard our patients.

The St Michael’s Hospital Improvement Plan is available for download HERE