Clare Daly
Question:915. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Health if HIQA has undertaken investigations specifically into the management of CPE in Limerick University Hospital; and if not, if it plans to do so. [14054/19]
View answerTuesday, 26 March 2019
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Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) is an independent authority established to drive high-quality and safe care for health and social care services in Ireland. HIQA operates under the Health Act 2007, which sets out the functions which the Authority is to carry out. HIQA has responsibility for setting standards for healthcare services, and monitoring compliance with health care sector standards.
HIQA typically undertakes both announced and unannounced inspection of healthcare facilities in order to ascertain the degree of adherence to expected standards. A report of the inspection visit is subsequently published on HIQA’s website.
As part of the National Public Health Emergency on CPE, in February 2018, the Department of Health wrote to HIQA. The Department noted that HIQA had begun to consider CPE in monitoring programme. It also welcomed that HIQA had engaged in monitoring the compliance with CPE national guidance (produced by the CPE Expert Group) when carrying out inspections in acute public hospitals against their National Standards for the Prevention and Control of Healthcare-associated Infections in Acute Healthcare Services (2017). This work continues.