Faulty CCTV system at UHG putting patient safety at risk

Faults on the security cameras at University Hospital Galway (UHG) resulted in an investigation into an alleged assault on a female patient being dropped and thwarted the search for a patient missing from a unit which accommodates patients with infectious diseases.

Security reports obtained under the Freedom of Information Act (FOI) detail a number of occasions on which the internal CCTV system and other electronic equipment were not functioning last year.

Councillor Padraig Conneely submitted the request after failing to get answers from the board of the Health Service Executive about security lapses at UHG.

The former mayor and chairman of the HSE West Regional Health Forum has questioned how such technical faults could occur when the hospital had given over €1.3m to a private company to provide security services over the last three years.

A fault was recorded on March 17 when the duty security officer reported that he had been alerted of a patient missing from St Enda’s Ward which accommodates patients with infectious diseases. The officer states in his report that he was unable to check the camera footage to search for the patient as the system was “down since Friday”.

The next day a female patient reported that she had been assaulted by a man on the grounds of the hospital. The security report noted that the incident could not be investigated because “the whole CCTV system” was not working.

On September 26 last year, security staff again reported that the internal camera system was out of action and stated that it was not possible to monitor the grounds of the hospital. It was also recorded that 25 lights on the grounds were broken and an electronic system on an access door to the physiotherapy department was out of order.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Sentinel.