The Health Service Executive has refused to say when or if it will publish an independent review into the Emergency Department at University Hospital Galway.
In a statement to the Galway City Tribune, the HSE said the report has been referred back to its authors “for factual accuracy checking”. The report has also been “referred for legal advice”.
The HSE did not directly address the question of if or when the report would be published.
Last week, the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) called on the HSE to publish the report. The union was backed by Derek Nolan, a Labour Party TD.
Independent Galway City councillor, Catherine Connolly, a General Election candidate, said that by failing to publish the report, management was giving the impression they had something to hide.
Failure to publish also gave the impression management was, “incapable of learning from mistakes”.
Cllr Connolly said it is her understanding that the report has identified changes that should be made to the Emergency Department to improve patient safety.
In response to queries, the HSE said: “An external review of the Emergency Department at University Hospital Galway was commissioned in 2015 following a series of conciliation conferences under the auspices of the Labour Relations Commission (LRC). It was agreed that this would be a useful way of identifying changes required to improve the working environment, patient safety and service delivery.
“The review was carried out by representatives of the Royal College of Nursing Northern Ireland and the Royal College of Emergency Medicine. The main purpose of the review was to identify good practice, identify areas that needed improvement and make recommendations to improve service delivery and patient safety. The draft report arising from this review has been referred back to the authors for factual accuracy checking. It has also been referred for legal advice.”
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