Maman Poulet

When is an unannounced audit not an unannounced audit?

The cleanliness audit of Irish Hospitals is out today. Lots of improvement all round which is to be welcomed– but I don’t believe in the unannounced nature of the audit. Having worked and visited two of the hospitals listed this year I know that they were expecting the audit and knew when approximately it would take place.

The infection control nurse who tried to bring herself and two workmen in to the treatment room I was occupying with two doctors and a nurse conducting a test on me gave the game away. Her insistence that she needed to install cleansers and the like was just a bit OTT and then she added that it needed to be done before the auditors arrived later that week.  The control of infection I might have caught with all the tooing and froing of non-clinical staff whilst having intravenous treatment was furthest from her mind.

And wouldn’t the CEO’s be ringing each other saying so and so ‘is headed down to you next.’  As a part-time business standards auditor it’s clear to me how this game is played, and manys the time I’ve been asked by store manager A about my travel plans so he can tip off store manager B.

posted by Maman Poulet @ 7/13/2006 01:31:00 p.m.