Six months of safety inspections at St. Luke’s Upper Bucks: January to June
The hospital in Bucks County was cited for sanitation and patient privacy violations in the first six months of the year.
St. Luke’s Upper Bucks was cited for sanitation and patient privacy violations in the first six months of the year.
The incidents were among six times state inspectors visited the hospital to investigate potential safety problems between January and June.
Here’s a look at the publicly available details:
Jan. 25: Inspectors cited the hospital for sanitation problems in the behavioral health unit, including dust in patient rooms, opaque film on bathroom sinks, and a broken trash can with sharp edges that had not been emptied. The hospital retrained housecleaning staff and agreed to randomly check patient rooms for at least three months.
Jan. 25: Inspectors visited for a mental health services survey and found the hospital in compliance.
Feb. 15: Inspectors cited the hospital for staff code of conduct violations. A patient’s IV became dislodged and was reinserted by an anesthesia worker who was a family friend of the patient, but not part of the patient’s medical team. Inspectors said it was a violation of patient privacy for the anesthesia worker to reinsert the IV and document it in the patient’s medical record. The hospital retrained staff on patient safety and who is allowed to access patient records.
Feb. 15: Inspectors investigated a complaint but found the hospital was in compliance. Complaint details are not made public when inspectors determine it was unfounded.
Apr. 24: Inspectors visited for a special monitoring survey and found the hospital in compliance.
May 22: Inspectors followed up on the January sanitation citation and found the hospital was in compliance.
Pennsylvania Department of Health routinely inspects hospitals to ensure the facility is safe for patients and that staff are following all safety protocols. Inspectors may also visit when a hospital staff member or patient files a complaint.
Not all safety violations spark an on-site investigation from inspectors. Hospitals are required to self-report the most serious safety violations and often work directly with the state to address them. Complaint details are not made public when inspectors determine it was unfounded.
The Inquirer tracks publicly available hospital reports related to a complaint, special monitoring, and general safety inspections. The Inquirer does not track inspections for new equipment or occupancy surveys, unless problems are identified.
Inspection reports are publicly available online and are released 40 days after the report is completed.
The Inquirer is publishing roundups of state inspection reports for Pa. hospitals in our coverage area.
