South Tipperary General Hospital, Clonmel (formerly known as Clonmel General Hospital) is a public hospital located in Clonmel

Clonmel

Clonmel is the county town of South Tipperary in Ireland. It is the largest town in the county. While the borough had a population of 15,482 in 2006, another 17,008 people were in the rural hinterland. The town is noted in Irish history for its resistance to the Cromwellian army which sacked both...

, County Tipperary

County Tipperary

County Tipperary is a county of Ireland. It is located in the province of Munster and is named after the town of Tipperary. The area of the county does not have a single local authority; local government is split between two authorities. In North Tipperary, part of the Mid-West Region, local...

, Ireland

Republic of Ireland

Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

. It is managed by the Irish Government's Health Service Executive

Health Service Executive

The Health Service Executive is responsible for the provision of healthcare providing health and personal social services for everyone living in Ireland, with public funds. The Executive was established by the Health Act, 2004 and came into official operation on January 1, 2005...

 and provides acute hospital services, including a 24-hour emergency department

Emergency department

An emergency department , also known as accident & emergency , emergency room , emergency ward , or casualty department is a medical treatment facility specialising in acute care of patients who present without prior appointment, either by their own means or by ambulance...

, for the population of County Tipperary

County Tipperary

County Tipperary is a county of Ireland. It is located in the province of Munster and is named after the town of Tipperary. The area of the county does not have a single local authority; local government is split between two authorities. In North Tipperary, part of the Mid-West Region, local...

 and adjacent areas. In 2008, the hospital served 46,858 out-patients, and 13,208 in-patients, with an average stay of 5.9 nights. The hospital saw 4,499 day cases in the same year. In 2007, 71.7% of admissions (8,370 patients) were made via the accident and emergency department

Emergency department

An emergency department , also known as accident & emergency , emergency room , emergency ward , or casualty department is a medical treatment facility specialising in acute care of patients who present without prior appointment, either by their own means or by ambulance...

. The hospital saw 1,178 live births in 2008.

Services

The hospital provides 318 beds, of which 217 are in-patient beds, 25 are designated for day cases, 25 for emergency department patienst, and 2 for labour ward admissions, while a further 49 are reserved for psychiatric patients. Specialty services include general medicine

Medicine

Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....

, general surgery

Surgery

Surgery is an ancient medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a patient to investigate and/or treat a pathological condition such as disease or injury, or to help improve bodily function or appearance.An act of performing surgery may be called a surgical...

, dermatology

Dermatology

Dermatology is the branch of medicine dealing with the skin and its diseases, a unique specialty with both medical and surgical aspects. A dermatologist takes care of diseases, in the widest sense, and some cosmetic problems of the skin, scalp, hair, and nails....

, accident and emergency, oncology

Oncology

Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with cancer...

, palliative care

Palliative care

Palliative care is a specialized area of healthcare that focuses on relieving and preventing the suffering of patients...

, orthopaedics, obstetrics and gynaecology

Obstetrics and gynaecology

Obstetrics and gynaecology are the two surgical–medical specialties dealing with the female reproductive organs in their pregnant and non-pregnant state, respectively, and as such are often combined to form a single medical specialty and postgraduate training programme...

, paediatrics, psychiatry

Psychiatry

Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the study and treatment of mental disorders. These mental disorders include various affective, behavioural, cognitive and perceptual abnormalities...

.<

Waiting times

The national median waiting time for surgery in November 2009 stood at 1.1 months; at South Tipperary General Hospital this figure was 0.7 months. Overall waiting time was 0.7 months, above the national median of 2.4 months. As of November 2009, the National Treatment Purchase Fund listed the following waiting times for procedures:

Surgical

• adult patients waiting 3–6 months: 2
• adult patients waiting 6–12 months: 0
• adult patients waiting over 12 months: 0
• child patients waiting 3–6 months: 0
• child surgical patients waiting 6–12 months: 0
• child surgical patients waiting over 12 months: 0

Medical

• adult patients waiting 3–6 months: 4
• adult patients waiting 6–12 months: 0
• adult patients waiting over 12 months: 0
• child patients waiting 3–6 months: 0
• child patients waiting 6–12 months: 0
• child patients waiting over 12 months: 0

Hygiene

Independent audits rated hygiene levels as 80% satisfactory in 2005, rising to 92% in 2006. The hospital had a Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus is a bacterium responsible for several difficult-to-treat infections in humans. It is also called multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and oxacillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus...

(MRSA) infection rate of 0.01 per 1,000 bed days in 2007.