Patient Administration

Patient Rights

Consent to treatment

It is the philosophy of the Rotunda to allow patients to make decisions about their care by giving them all the information they need.

Before a doctor or other healthcare professional examines or treats you, they need your consent.

Consent is about you and the healthcare staff agreeing together on the best way forward for your treatment, based on you telling them your preferences and values and the healthcare staff’s clinical knowledge.

Sometimes you can simply tell them whether you agree with their suggestions.
You can give consent verbally or implied, such as holding out your arm for bloods to be taken.
Sometimes we need a written record of your decision, for example if your treatment involves sedation or general anaesthesia.
We will then ask you to sign a consent form.
If you later change your mind, you can withdraw or take back your consent, even after signing the form, anytime up until you are having your procedure.

As a general rule, we cannot give you an operation, procedure or treatment without your consent, as long as you are deemed to be a competent adult – that you can understand the proposed treatment.

By law we have to give you all of the information you need and get your consent for an operation, procedure or treatment and it is also an accepted part of good medical practice.

Sometimes in obstetrics, we may need consent to treatment in an emergency situation, with only a little time to talk about all of the issues with you.

Please discuss any concerns you may have with a doctor or midwife.

Interpreter Service

Interpreter service

A private company provides interpretation services in the Rotunda. If you want an interpreter because you cannot speak or understand English well, please tell staff when you make an appointment, so that we can organise to have an interpreter available.

Wheelchair Users / Persons with Reduced Mobility

We respectfully ask that all unaccompanied wheelchair users / persons with reduced mobility please make themselves known to us at Reception or at the Security Desk on arrival at the Hospital.
We will contact a Porter to escort you safely to/from the clinic as appropriate.
When your appointment is completed please ask a member of staff to call the Porter to escort you back to the exit.
We are taking these steps as we recognise that the existing infrastructure can provide challenges in accessing some of our services.

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Cultural Diversity

Cultural diversity

Diversity is a core value of the Rotunda Hospital and we aim to make sure that we respect and meet the health needs of people from different cultures in the right way.

Our staff have had diversity awareness training so that they know how to give a good service that suits your particular needs because of your culture, religion, or beliefs.

When you come to the Rotunda for your first visit, we will record your ethnicity and you can tell us about any support needs or requests, which will help us plan your care.

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Caring for Baby

Patient Charter

The National Healthcare Charter You and Your Health Service is a statement of commitment by the HSE describing:

what you can expect when using health services in Ireland, and
what you can do to help Irish health services to deliver more effective and safe services.

It is based on eight principles: access, dignity and respect, safe and effective services, communication and information, participation, privacy, improving health and accountability.

Patient Charter

Patient Safety and Quality

Your safety and the quality of the care you receive is very important to us. We participate in national and international quality initiatives, which help us to provide you with high quality, safe and reliable care.

Infection Prevention and Control

Hospital hygiene: Ensuring that our wards and all parts of the hospital are kept clean is vital to preventing the spread of infections and is something we take very seriously.

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Participation in Quality Initiatives

The Rotunda Hospital is committed to providing high quality, safe and reliable care to all mothers and babies. We take part in a number of quality initiatives both at national and international level.

The following examples show our commitment to improving the care and services we provide.

Risk Management

Risk management is about improving patient safety by identifying and reducing risks which may cause harm or injury to patients.

We all know that things can go wrong and accidents happen in hospitals but it is important that we try to reduce these as much as possible.

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Clinical Audit

What is clinical audit?

Clinical audit is ‘a quality improvement process that seeks to improve patient care and outcomes through systematic review of care against explicit criteria and the implementation of change’. Principles for Best Practice in Clinical Audit (2002, NICE).

Put simply – clinical audit is a way of finding out if we are doing what we should be doing and making improvements where necessary.

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Safety and Security

We have effective security arrangements throughout the hospital to protect patients, visitors, staff and property. We have alarm systems, access control and closed circuit television surveillance.

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Child Protection

Under the Children First Act, the Rotunda Hospital has a statutory obligation to prepare and publish a Children First Safeguarding Statement:

This is a written statement that specifies the service being provided and the principles and procedures to be observed in order to ensure, as far as practicable, that a child availing of the service is safe from harm.

The Child Safeguarding Statement provides an overview of the measures that the Hospital has in place to ensure that children are protected from harm.

Child Safeguarding Statement

Feedback And Complaints

Your service your say. We are committed to reviewing and improving all aspects of our service and we support the HSE’s 'your service, your say' initiative.

If you are not satisfied with any part of the care or service you receive in the Rotunda, please speak with the person in charge of the area and tell them of your concern.

If this does not resolve the issue or if you were unable to speak with the person in charge, you can contact our Head of Quality and Patient Safety.

Complaints Policy

Complaint Form

Role of the Ombudsman

Complaints Section,
Quality and Patient Safety Department,
The Rotunda Hospital,
Parnell Square,
Dublin 1.
[email protected]

Patient Advocacy Service

The Patient Advocacy Service provides a free, independent and confidential service to help people making or intending to make a complaint in relation to the care they have received. They also provide support to patients following a patient safety incident.

For further information, please email [email protected]
or call their national helpline 0818 293003.

Patient Experience Survey

As part of our commitment to reviewing and improving the care and services we provide, a patient experience survey is undertaken every year. This gives women an opportunity to give us valuable feedback on their own experience while attending the Rotunda. It identifies what is working well and also areas that can be improved upon. The survey findings are discussed at the Quality and Safety Committee meeting and priority areas for action are identified

PATIENT EXPERIENCE SURVEY RESULTS

Privacy Statement

The Rotunda Hospital is a registered Data Controller with the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner, Ireland. All personal data processed by our Hospital is processed in accordance with the obligations under current Data Protection law. The Rotunda Hospital collects, stores and uses large amounts of personal data every day, such as medical or health data, which may be paper-based or held electronically. We take our duty to protect your personal information and confidentiality very seriously and are committed to taking all measures to ensure it is held securely and only accessed by those with a need to do so.

Information We Collect and How We Use It

Our Online Privacy Notice

Open Disclosure

We all know that things can go wrong and accidents happen in hospitals but it is important that we try to reduce these as much as possible. Open disclosure means that the Rotunda has an open, consistent approach to communicating with service users when things go wrong in healthcare. This includes expressing regret for what has happened, keeping the service user informed, providing feedback on investigations and the steps taken to prevent a recurrence of the incident.