By Aileen Murphy

A MIXED bag of hygiene practices have been noted by inspectors carrying out an review of the Erne Hospital.

While inspectors noted room for improvement at the Enniskillen hospital, they also reported some areas of good practice.

The Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA) visited the hospital unannounced earlier this year. They looked in particular at the accident and emergency (A&E) department, outpatients, ward One and ward ten.

The inspection team noted that various areas of the Erne have been refurbished in the hospital and there is a rolling programme of improvement in place.

The outpatients department scored highest in the inspection, achieving scores of over 83% compliance in all eight specific areas looked at. An average score of 93% was registered by the outpatients department.

In outpatients the inspectors said the department was compliant in all areas except for the environment. And they noted this could be readily brought into compliance with an improvement in staff practice.

The worst department was A&E with an average score of just 77%. Indeed some areas looked at fell well below the acceptable standard. Specific areas criticised by the Inspectors included the main entrance and public toilets in A&E.

Despite the fact A&E has been refurbished in recent years, some toilets have not been refurbished and were observed as outdated and worn. The Inspectors noted worn wooden panels, old and worn toilets, deep scores on some seats, dirty mop buckets, and dusty areas. They also criticised the lack of both sanitary disposal facilities and toilet roll holders.

They said lack of storage and overstocking let to clutter within all clinical areas inspected.

Ward One and Ward 10 both scored adequately with average scores of 82% and 83% respectively.

The inspectors commended that all areas they looked at were compliant with hand hygiene and clinical practice. Inspectors commended on the positive attitude observed in the hospital to improve practice in this area.