St. Luke's General Hospital, Kilkenny (also known as Carlow/Kilkenny General Hospital and Kilkenny District Hospital) is a public hospital located in Kilkenny

Kilkenny

Kilkenny is a city and is the county town of the eponymous County Kilkenny in Ireland. It is situated on both banks of the River Nore in the province of Leinster, in the south-east of Ireland...

, 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,...

. Founded in 1942, 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 Kilkenny, County Carlow

County Carlow

County Carlow is a county in Ireland. It is part of the South-East Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Carlow, which lies on the River Barrow. Carlow County Council is the local authority for the county...

, and part 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...

. In 2008, the hospital served 51,804 out-patients, 15,957 in-patients, and 9,260 day cases, with an average stay of 5.2 nights. In 2007, there were 33,590 accident and emergency department presentations. 71.9% of all admissions were made via the emergency department. The hospital saw 2,193 live births in 2008.

Services

The hospital provides 285 beds, of which 228 are in-patient acute beds, while 12 are reserved for day cases. A further 45 beds are designated for in-patient psychiatric care. In-patient 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...

, geriatrics

Geriatrics

Geriatrics is a sub-specialty of internal medicine and family medicine that focuses on health care of elderly people. It aims to promote health by preventing and treating diseases and disabilities in older adults. There is no set age at which patients may be under the care of a geriatrician, or...

, accident and emergency, endocrinology, palliative care, coronary care, oncology, rheumatology, obstetrics and gynaecology, paediatrics, psychiatry, and day surgery.

Hygiene

Independent audits rated hygiene levels as 76% or "fair" in 2005, rising to 89% or "good" in 2006. Hospital-acquired infection

Nosocomial infection

A nosocomial infection , also known as a hospital-acquired infection or HAI, is an infection whose development is favoured by a hospital environment, such as one acquired by a patient during a hospital visit or one developing among hospital staff...

 affected 1.8% of patients in 2007, with 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 0.11 per 1,000 bed days.

Adult

• adult surgical patients waiting 3-6 months: 87
• adult surgical patients waiting 6-12 months: 41
• adult surgical patients waiting over 12 months: 8
• adult medical patients waiting 3-6 months: 2
• adult medical patients waiting 6-12 months: 0
• adult medical patients waiting over 12 months:0

Paediatric

• child surgical patients waiting 3-6 months: 0
• child surgical patients waiting 6-12 months: 0
• child surgical patients waiting over 12 months: 0
• child medical patients waiting 3-6 months:0
• child medical patients waiting 6-12 months:0
• child medical patients waiting over 12 months: 0

Staff

In 2007, the hospital employed over 880 staff, including: 91 doctors, 399 nurses, 60 health and social care professionals, 115 administrators, 193 general support staff, and 23 other patient/client care workers.