Staff Boost Cleanliness and Infection Control at Hospitals

7 December 2004

New equipment, further training, more innovative cleaning and hygiene methods and hard work from staff have all boosted cleanliness and infection control at West Suffolk Hospitals NHS Trust.

Progress on improving hospital cleanliness as part of efforts to tackle superbugs like MRSA is due to be outlined by the Government today (Dec. 7). Health Minister Lord Warner will explain how hospitals and other NHS sites scored in inspections by Patient Environment Action Teams (PEAT).

The Trust¹s most recent PEAT inspection was carried out last year. It rated the Trust¹s environment (which includes cleanliness) as acceptable. Since then thanks to a tremendous effort from staff the Trust¹s cleanliness and hygiene have further improved.

Among new measures put in place are:

·         The housekeeping department now has its own helpdesk which staff can call to report any cleanliness issues.

·         All housekeeping staff are being trained under the criteria set by the British Institute of Cleaning Science. In the last month they have also completed courses in customer care and infection control.

·         Hand hygiene foam solutions are put at each patient¹s bedside. Hand hygiene stations are also being set up outside each of the wards so that visitors can wash their hands before and after entering the ward.

·         Individuals from the housekeeping team have been made rapid response cleaners who respond within ten minutes to do an intense cleaning of an area when there is an outbreak of illness in the hospital, for example winter vomiting virus.

·         Each supervisor now completes quality checklists for their area of responsibility.

·         Posters have been put up on every ward to remind people to use the hand hygiene foam to wash their hands.

·         The Facilities department has a new monitoring officer dedicated to continually assess the hospital¹s physical environment including cleanliness. The officer uses the same national criteria (PEAT inspection criteria) to examine how the trust is doing.

·         The hospital now has regular hand hygiene audits and all staff are taught about hand hygiene at their induction. Mandatory training in infection control is also carried out each year.

·         Checklists can now be found in all public toilets and they are checked every two hours

·         There is a rolling cleaning programme in place for all floors including corridors, roads around the hospital and wards. All floors within the hospitals are cleaned every day but the programme ensures the floors are scrubbed and buffed regularly.

·         New cleaning trollies, microfibre mops ­ the latest in dust control, and new cleaning agents to combat hospital-acquired infections including MRSA have been introduced.

Victor Cruz, the Trust's Housekeeping Services Manager, said: "We have made great strides in terms of hospital cleanliness over the last six months. The level of commitment from our staff has been tremendous and they deserve a pat on the back. There is still work to be done and we are never complacent as there is always room for improvement."

The number of new cases of MRSA at West Suffolk Hospital have fallen in the past year 133 in October ­ December 2003, to 91 cases in October ­ December 2004.

Infection Control Nurse Jill Cerny said: "Our figures show a downward trend on MRSA rates. We have achieved this by improving our infection control measures thanks to a tremendous effort from staff."

The Trust¹s last PEAT inspection rated West Suffolk Hospital’s food as poor. This assessment was based on food portions being too big and the need for the hospital to introduce three chef’s special options.

The third chef’s special options will be available from January 2005.

Riva Knight, Hotel Services Manager, said: "The score reflected the opinion of an individual. We get far more compliments than complaints about our food. We have excellent menus offering a wide variety of choice."