An on-line survey, operated by Irishhealth.com, has revealed that public opinion on the overall level of care provided by University Hospital Galway (UHG ) is one of the lowest in the country, with one former patient describing the hospital as “dog house”.
The ratemyhospital survey asks past patients or their family members to vote on their level of satisfaction with the care provided at 51 hospitals nationwide. The rankings for votes received up to September 30, 2008, showed that UHG was at the bottom of the pile with a 59 per cent satisfaction rate. The hospital shared 47th place with three others - Waterford Regional, Midwestern Regional, Ennis, and Kerry General Hospital.
The top performers included: St Luke’s, Rathgar (92 per cent ), Mid-Western Regional Orthopaedic Hospital (86 per cent ), St John’s Hospital, Limerick (83 per cent ), Cappagh National Orthopaedic Hospital (81 per cent ), Temple Street Children’s University Hospital (80 per cent ), and St Mary’s Orthopaedic Hospital Cork (80 per cent ).
Portiuncula Hospital in Ballinasloe came in at 17th place with 71 per cent while Merlin Park Regional Hospital came in 29th place with 65 per cent. Ratemyhospital.ie also allows the public to leave comments and reasons for their good or bad experiences; the general comments for UHG were a mixture. The most recent comment, on September 24, 2008, was straight to the point with the words “A Dog House”. A nurse’s comment on September 2 revealed that when her husband and son had spinal injuries they were left waiting up to eight hours for an x-ray. Her son “had to spend a total of 24 hours in a stiff neck collar and head blocks... It was an absolute nightmare and one which made a traumatic situation unbearable.”
One person, however, on September 18, said that he received “great care overall”. Another woman said the staff were, “second to none and the nursing staff were competent and caring”.
