Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am responding to this Topical Issue matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Health, Deputy Varadkar. I thank Deputy Kirk for giving me an opportunity to address the House on the important issue of the HIQA report on the threat of Legionnaire's disease at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda. I would like to apologise on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Varadkar, who generally tries to be present to respond to Topical Issue debates that relate to his area of responsibility. I hope the Deputy understands that he is unable to be present today. The Minister will communicate that to the Deputy as well.

HIQA identified a number of issues during an unannounced inspection of Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda on 11 June last. A reinspection was carried out on 16 July. The hospital has acknowledged the issues raised in the HIQA report relating to the national standards for the prevention and control of health care associated infections following inspections of the hospital in June and July 2015. The Minister is pleased to note that the hospital management team and the staff of the hospital have made a number of improvements and a great deal of progress in respect of all issues raised during HIQA's initial visit. The hospital has a robust governance structure in place for the management of all aspects of the national standards for the prevention and control of healthcare-associated infections. It has developed a quality improvement plan to address the remaining outstanding issues raised in the HIQA report. I understand the hospital has a system in place to manage actively all the processes that minimise the likelihood of Legionella bacteria being in the water supply. This is to ensure a high level of protection for all patients and staff. I am also informed that the hospital is compliant with the Legionella L8 approved code of practice. It is worth noting that there have been no hospital-acquired infections associated with Legionella bacteria at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda.

I would like to mention some of the measures that are in place at the hospital to ensure the quality of water supply. Water quality at the hospital is managed and governed by a multidisciplinary group that includes a consultant microbiologist. Copper-silver treatment of water is undertaken to eliminate Legionella bacteria. The flushing of all low-use outlets is in place on a daily basis. The efficiency of treatment processes is subject to ongoing measurement, with monthly sampling of water. The Deputy asked how often it is sampled. Additional external independent sampling of the water supply for Legionella takes place in accordance with the national standard. Monthly random testing is done at the point of water supply. I understand that in the past year, three samples have returned with a bacterial level that is higher than accepted norms. In all cases, the reasons for this have been identified and remedial action has been taken. The hospital has taken other steps to address issues arising from the HIQA report, including completing minor maintenance works, undertaking risk assessment in relation to access to sinks and making improvements with regard to staff training, audit and information display to ensure compliance with hygiene standards.

I assure the House that the senior management team at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital has an internal audit programme to assess compliance with the standards. The hospital is committed to providing health care services in an environment that maximises safety, quality and accountability and drives a culture of responsibility and accountability among all staff involved. The Deputy raised a number of additional questions that were not necessarily outlined in his initial submission for this Topical Issue debate. I will try to get all those answers for the Deputy over the next day or two and I will bring back his requests to the Minister, Deputy Varadkar.

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