Patient Safety Goals
We are committed to providing safe care for patients across all stages of care:
- Ensuring each patient is correctly identified before tests are undertaken and treatment or medication is administered
- Enhancing the quality and integrity of communications for improved understanding
- Governing the safe prescription and administration of medications
- Ensuring the correct patient receives the correct surgery at the correct site
- Reducing the risk of healthcare-associated infection
- Reducing the risk of slips and falls
Compliance with National Standards
Patient safety is a priority for the hospital and our Quality Department initiates, implements, reviews and enhances quality initiatives ensuring patients receive safe healthcare and a premium patient experience. In addition, the Quality Department monitors Hospital compliance with the following National Standards:
- National Standards for Safer Better Healthcare
- National Standards for the Prevention & Control of Healthcare-Associated Infections
- Guide to Nutrition and Hydration Monitoring in Acute Hospitals
- Guide to Medication Safety Monitoring in Acute Hospitals.
Incident Reporting
The Hospital has a strong culture of incident reporting and uses learnings for continuous improvement purposes.
Medication Safety
Red aprons worn by nurses administering medication indicate they must not be disturbed during drug rounds, reducing the risk of distraction and error, and contributing to improved patient safety.
Nutrition & Hydration
The Catering Department adheres to the highest standards of safety in food preparation.
Hygiene
The Hospital employs a clean pass methodology, systematically cleaning the Hospital for the prevention and control of infection.
Our service centres around you and is designed to support your medical, emotional and practical needs.
Positive Patient Interaction
When you commit your care to us it is important that you have confidence in our service. We know that every communication and interaction builds trust and open dialogue will influence your hospital experience and outcome. For this reason, we encourage conversation and welcome your questions. And we will try to communicate complex medical terms in a language that you will understand. But we don’t always get it right. If you are having difficulty understanding your medical condition, proposed procedure, preoperative or postoperative instructions please feel free to contact the Preoperative Assessment Clinic on +353 1 814 0407 for advice.
Shared Decision Making
We encourage you to actively participate in decisions regarding your treatment, because we believe shared decision making will improve treatment and recovery.
We ask what you would like to achieve from treatment and devise a programme to realise your recovery ambition.
Supporting your Recovery
After surgery, it may take time for you to regain your full ability and independence. We will create programmes to empower your recovery and support you in achieving your personal recovery goals.
We want to improve access to care for patients, so that they can receive timely treatment. For this reason, we continuously review operations, introduce efficiencies and initiate enhanced recovery programmes to lessen demand for inpatient care and reduce patient waiting times. In the past two years our work in this regard has succeeded in reducing patient waiting times from 18 months to just over 6 months. We will continue to build on this success, expediting waiting times for consultations and treatment.
In order to treat your medical condition, you may require the services of multiple medical disciplines, including orthopaedic surgeons, nurses, physiotherapists and others. At the National Orthopaedic Hospital Cappagh, we work together in interdisciplinary teams to address the individual needs of patients. This collaboration ensures that you receive the treatment and care you need to make a full and fast recovery.
The Hospital uses digital medical recording devices to host patient files. Digitisation will improve patient privacy as it eliminates the needs for hard copy files by the patient bedside. In addition user friendly interfaces will aid navigation and contribute to operational efficiency. Files can only be accessed and updated by authorised medical personnel only and enhanced security systems protect data integrity.
In addition, if you have recently undertaken an xray, MRI, PET and CT scan at another public hospital, we can use the National Integrated Medical Imaging System (NIMIS), to access diagnostic images.
Each year the Health Information and Quality Authority conduct an independent survey, asking inpatients of hospitals across the country to provide honest feedback on their hospital experience. Each year, the National Orthopaedic Hospital Cappagh consistently performs above the national average and receives positive affirmation from patients.
What is more, the Hospital creates Quality Improvement Plans to address areas for service and practice enhancement and we are delighted to report that increased metrics have been recorded in areas where Quality Improvement Plans have been implemented. We will continue to use our patients feedback to improve quality standards and patient experience
The National Patient Experience 2022
The annual National Patient Experience Survey 2022 invited patients aged 16 years or older who has spent 24 hours or more in a public hospital during the month of May to provide feedback on their experience. We are delighted to confirm that the National Orthopaedic Hospital Cappagh ranked first for overall patient experience for the second year running. The Hospital also exceeded the national average across all stages of care.
Quality Improvement Process
Each year, we use patient feedback to develop a Quality Improvement Process ensuring that issues raised in the NIES are addressed to enhance the patient experience. Click here to view the 2022 NIES Quality Improvement Process.
Following the HIQA Annual National Patient Experience Survey, the Hospital reviews metrics and patient comments and creates Quality Improvement Plans designed to address quality standards and improve the patient experience. The following Quality Improvement Plans have been formulated based on feedback from the 2019 National Patient Experience Survey.
Quality Improvement Plans
Infection Prevention & Control
Nutrition & Hydration
Coming Soon!
Click here to view HIQA reports relating to the National Orthopaedic Hospital Cappagh
