A Dublin hospital has decided to remove any reference to ‘Saint’ from the names of the wards on their IT systems.
Beaumont Hospital confirmed to this paper that the ward names are not being altered and the existing signs will be the same but the names would be changed on their IT systems to avoid “potential ambiguity” and “duplication”.
When asked whether the former IT nomenclature had resulted in any threat to patient safety the hospital said it had not.
This means that that wards named after saints will only be referred to by their first names. For instance, ‘ST’, ‘St’ or ‘Saint’ James ward will now be referred to as James ward.
The move came into effect on February 22, with the names changed on all their IT systems.
In a statement to this paper Beaumont Hospital said: “The actual ward names in Beaumont Hospital are not being altered and existing signage is being maintained.
“However, with regard to the ordering of ICT based tests and investigations, the prefix of ‘Saint’, ‘ST’ and ‘St’ is being removed thereby avoiding potential ambiguity, duplication and generally enabling a more efficient ordering system in this regard.”