HIQA has raised concerns about Letterkenny General Hospital, and has identified a number of high risks.
It carried out an unannounced inspection in June and discovered poor hygiene standards in various areas.
HIQA inspectors visited the hospital on June 18th.
They found a number of areas of concern that warranted an immediate high-risk finding.
There was dust in many places, and some floors were not cleaned to an acceptable standard.
There were also brown stains in some toilets, red stains on some patient equipment, window leaks and flaky paint.
A follow up inspection found no significant improvement.
It found the overall standard of environmental hygiene in areas inspected was poor "with varying levels of dust observed in all areas inspected".
It says: "Vacuum cleaning was not routinely carried out and dust control mops were coated in dust and fluff. Dust, fluff and grit were present on floor corners and edges in all patient and ancillary rooms inspected in both Medical 2 and the Orthopaedic Unit".
"No significant improvement"
It adds that there were "unacceptable levels of dust on most surfaces in Medical 2 Ward".
"Brown staining was visible on some toilet roll holders, toilet seats, toilet bowls and grab rails" it says.
"Inspectors found that many surfaces in a patient toilet remained unclean following the morning cleaning session".
On a re-inspection on July 23rd this year, HIQA says there was "no significant improvement in the overall standard of environmental hygiene".
"Despite identification and communication of poor standards of environmental hygiene on Medical 2 Ward, it was not evident that deep cleaning had been carried out following the first inspection".
Meanwhile, a separate inspection at the Mater Hospital in Dublin found deficiencies in cleanliness and unsafe injection practices in the Intensive Care Unit.
HIQA also says it observed "several fans in use in patient areas in St Monica’s Ward at the time of the inspection. Fans are not recommended for use in clinical areas".
While inspectors were told the fans were in use as a patient comfort measure, it added it was concerned "that several of the fans assessed were visibly very dusty and one was in poor repair".
