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A Report by the Ombudsman in relation to a complaint about the care and treatment of a patient at St Mary's Care Centre, Mulingar, Co Westmeath

Chapter 5 - Review of Procedures by HSE

Review of Procedures by HSE

On foot of this complaint, the HSE Risk Management Team initiated a review of existing protocols and procedures in relation to patient care. As I understand it, this review group has been subsumed into a national group which was established to review the system of admission to nursing homes around the country, and local representatives from the original review team are members of this national group. The following recommendations, however, were made by the original review team for implementation in St Mary's :

a) That the referral form for admission of patients to respite care should be standardised to incorporate all specialities, for example, physiotherapy, dietetics, occupational therapy and speech and language therapy. In this way, the nursing home would have more comprehensive information regarding the patient's requirements in advance of care being provided. (A Regional Group was established with input from all care sites, and an information letter was circulated to all GPs detailing the information required to include the patient's present and previous medical history, and a current valid drug prescription. A national referral form for older person services is being prepared, and a copy of the draft form prepared by the Regional Group was forwarded to the Chairperson of the national group);

b) That all specialities should attend respite planning meetings, including medical staff, and that the outcome of these meetings should be communicated to all relevant staff. (Referrals to various disciplines are generated at these meetings, and all specialities currently attend the respite planning meetings);

c) That standardised letters for discharge of respite patients, together with an interdisciplinary feedback system between community services, should be developed by the Review Group. (This recommendation will be reviewed on completion of the work of the national group if not incorporated in their work);

d) That a standardised system for delivery and collection of referral letters to paramedical services within the ward should be put in place. (This has been implemented);

e) That information leaflets should be provided for families and for General Practitioners, that feedback survey forms should be made available to respite patients to ascertain areas for improvement, that a review of activities and services provided during respite should be undertaken. (This has been implemented);

f) That two highly adaptable chairs specifically for respite services be ordered. (This has been implemented).

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