Fears about the future of the Midland Regional Hospital, Mullingar (MRHM ) were allayed this week after it was found by the HSE to be the third best performing hospital in the country, according to this year’s HealthStat report.
Out of the 27 teaching, regional, and general hospitals in the State, only Wexford General Hospital and St James’s Hospital in Dublin performed better than MRHM, and only these three were given a “very good performance” mark.
Twenty two hospitals were deemed “average, with room for improvement”, while only Cork University Hospital and University College Hospital, Galway were judged as “unsatisfactory, requiring urgent attention”.
This HealthStat achievement follows the €2.3 million award to the MRHM in January after it was named ‘most efficient’ under the Casemix system, which penalises inefficient hospitals and redirects money to more efficient ones. The hospital has benefited substantially under the Casemix for the last number of years, having secured a positive adjustment each year since 1994.
In 2009 the hospital treated 7,237 day cases and 18,822 inpatient discharges. In addition, the hospital’s accident and emergency department saw 32,841 attendances (90 per day ) and had a total of 2,934 births (eight per day ) in 2009 compared to 2,516 births in 2007.
In tandem with the developments at the MRHM, the HSE is also working on developing services in the community, and has planned 17 primary care teams for the Longford/Westmeath area.
Of these, 11 teams are well advanced and holding clinical team meetings, while the remaining six teams are planned for Phase 3 in 2010 and Phase 4 in 2011. The Phase 3 teams will be located in Granard, Longford, and Mullingar. The Phase 4 teams will be located in Delvin, Edgeworthstown, and Rochfortbridge.
The HealthStat report was based on a number of criteria, including access to services for patients, GP access to diagnostic facilities, and how beds are used. However, this performance survey did not include any measure of clinical outcomes for patients.
The survey, established last year by Professor Brendan Drumm, allows Irish hospitals to compare themselves to the best of international practices, and divides performances into green - above average, amber - average, and red - unsatisfactory.
The assessment was carried out in May and released in what is, effectively, the first league table of performances for Irish hospitals. Previously, this information had been released in alphabetical order.
Improvement overall is being made, as in last year’s survey results there were no hospital given green status, and six in the red.
“Health and social care services hold a wealth of information about the services delivered to the Irish public but despite this, it can be a challenge to put a finger on the pulse of service performance,” said a spokesperson for the health services.
“For HSE staff and managers to be able to stand over our work and to enable continuous improvement, the HSE need reliable, timely and comprehensive information about how our services are delivered to those who use them.
“To meet this need, the HSE has designed and implemented a performance information and improvement system called HealthStat,” she said.
