The Health Watchdog has found that nurse staffing at Sligo University Hospitals Emergency Department has not improved.
The unannounced inspection which took place in July of last year, found the hospital partially or non-compliant in eight of the 13 national standards inspected.
The hospital had improved medical staffing levels in the Emergency Department which HIQA says, will have a significant positive impact.
However, shortfalls in the nurse staffing in the ED were having an impact on optimal staffing complement for day and night shifts, and inspectors found limited improvement from the last inspection in September 2022.
While inspectors found that there were no patients aged 75 years or more in the ED over 9 hours, none of the other HSE targets in relation to time taken for patients to progress through the ED were met on the day of inspection.
Patients who spoke with inspectors were positive about their experience of receiving care in the ED and wider hospital and were very complimentary of staff.
Despite staff efforts to maintain patients' dignity and respect, the practice of accommodating inpatients on trolleys on the ED corridor and on ward corridors and or treatment rooms impacted on patients' dignity and privacy.
While the hospital management team had committed to make improvements, there was limited progress on the hospital's compliance with the national standards since the last inspection and inspectors say that this needs to be progressed.
