Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 14 February 2012
704 Deputy Patrick O’Donovan asked the Minister for Health in view of deaths recently in a Belfast maternity hospital associated with pseudomonas, the measures that have been taken by the Health Service Executive to examine the risk of a similar contamination in maternity hospitals here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8123/12]
View answerOn 1st February, my Department requested the HSE to prepare a report (to be submitted to me by the end of this week) on the actions, if required, to minimise the risk of pseudomonas infection in augmented care settings (i.e. high dependency, adult and neonatal critical care) such as raising awareness of the potential infection risks posed by water systems; reinforcing good practice for the management of water delivery systems; working with estates management to identify potential risk areas; developing guidance on pseudomonas and augmented care settings etc. In the meantime the HSE has issued guidelines on the prevention of pseudomonas infection in neonatal units.
