Limerick hospitals taking steps to fully comply with EU regulations
SIGNIFICANT steps have been taken at three Limerick hospitals to ensure there is full compliance with EU ionising radiation regulations.
The Health and Information Quality Authority (HIQA) has published a report following an inspection at University Hospital Limerick, Croom Orthopaedic Hospital and University Maternity Hospital Limerick last September.
Medical exposure to ionising radiation is when radiation is used as part of diagnosis such as an X-ray or CT scan, for medical research purposes or the use of radiotherapy as part of cancer treatment at a hospital.
The pre-announced visit took place on September 22, 2021 and inspectors found there had been improvement in several areas since the previous inspection which was carried out in 2020.
"Inspectors reviewed information submitted prior to the inspection and on the day of inspection and reviewed practices in a number of modalities. Inspectors also spoke with a number of staff within the multidisciplinary team working in the radiology
department and with members of the UHL management team. Overall, inspectors found that the hospital had taken significant steps to come into compliance with the regulations inspected against in 2020," states the report.
While the UL Hospitals Group was found to be 'compliant' or 'substantially compliant' with all of the regulations, a number of areas for improvement were identified - including the need to recruit more medical physics experts (MPEs) and ensuring full adherence to certain protocols.
Following the inspection, UL Hospitals agreed to take action to address the concerns raised.
In addition to providing additional resources, it undertook to "implement and maintain appropriate quality assurance
programmes".
An undertaking was also given to "put in place the necessary arrangements to ensure the continuity of expertise of persons for whom it is responsible who have been recognised as a medical physics expert" under the regulations.
All of the measures agreed are to be implemented by next June.
In a statement, HIQA welcomed the progress made at UHL.
"Although University Hospital Limerick had yet to demonstrate a full return to compliance following a previous inspection, a strong commitment to addressing compliance issues was demonstrated on the inspection on 22 September 2021."