Bucks Hospital Cited in Sex Assault Cases

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

A Bucks County hospital has been cited by Pennsylvania health officials for failing to document that it followed required procedures with patients who were victims of sexual assaults.
In a report made public this week, state Health Department surveyors said employees at the Lower Bucks Hospital failed to document that two victims of sexual assault were provided with the correct discharge instructions.
In addition the report states that documentation was lacking to show the victims were told about the need for subsequent testing for the presence of sexually transmitted diseases. The surveyors also noted that the records for the same two patients did not include the results of tests performed at the hospital.
Other items cited by the state were cases in which patients were put in restraints without a justifications being included in the patients' individual care plans.
The 175-bed hospital also had failed to establish a protocol for staffers to follow following exposure to MRSA, a drug resistant bacteria, according to the report.
The failures were noted in a Jan. 28 license renewal survey of the Bristol Pa. facility.
Michelle Aliprantis, a hospital spokeswoman, said the findings "were primarily related to documentation and there were no findings related to patient care."
She noted the hospital did file "comprehensive action plan" which was accepted by the state.
That plan calls for a staff re-education program for staffers on the proper handling of patients who were victims of sexual assault. The plan also calls for the establishment of protocols in cases where staffers were exposed to infections. The plan also calls for periodic audits to ensure that the corrective action plan is being followed.
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