"Urgent" action demanded over hygiene at Dunfermline hospital

Published 22 Feb 2010 16:20 8 Comments

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NHS Fife bosses have been ordered to clean up their act after a damning report into hygiene and cleanliness standards at Dunfermline's Queen Margaret Hospital.

Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon has demanded "urgent action" after inspectors found "protruding needles" from waste bins, "contaminated" mattresses on patients beds that were ready-to-use and dirty areas of wards.

The Healthcare Environment Inspectorate (HEI) visited the outpatients and accident and emergency departments, wards 11, 14 and 20 as well as the intensive care unit at QMH on 13th and 14th January 2010.

They published their report today and highlighted concerns about infection control measures and that correct hand hygiene procedures and dress code were "not strictly adhered to by some medical staff in wards and units inspected".

Inspectors said ward staff and patients had "highlighted numerous issues with general maintenance and the cleanliness of wards" and stated there were a "number of areas where the fabric of the building was so degraded it could no longer be cleaned effectively".

Ms Sturgeon said, "The inspectors have found a number of areas in this hospital where I expect to see urgent action to improve standards and reduce infection risks for patients.

"There are also some examples of good practice for which I commend NHS Fife, but there needs to be a vigorous response to this report."

The report said, "The inspection team was particularly concerned about the condition of mattresses throughout the hospital.

"Contaminated mattresses were found on patient beds in both ward 14 and accident and emergency.

"In one instance, indicator tape used to identify items which are clean and ready to use, had been attached to a clearly degraded and cracked mattress cover and upon closer inspection the mattress was found to be heavily contaminated."

The report also said, "The overall perception of cleanliness was good in most of the areas inspected.

"However, there were numerous examples of varying levels of cleaning and a consistent lack of attention to detail throughout ward areas.

"This was particularly evident in relation to high level cleaning of curtain rails, tops of cabinets and air vents; hard to reach areas such as floor edging, corners and the under-carriages of bed frames; and the underside of items, for example, commodes.

The inspection team found specific areas of concern within the renal high dependency unit regarding poor overall lack of cleanliness, and this was raised with ward and domestic staff for action at the time of the inspection.

"The inspection team also found some linen on patient beds was worn and stained."

HEI inspectors did praise the work of NHS Fife's rapid response team, which deals with urgent cleaning, and were happy with reductions in hospital-acquired infections and the signage in place prompting people to wash their hands.

However, they also issued nine requirements, including "an immediate audit of all mattresses".

Susan Brimelow, HEI Chief Inspector, said, "The Inspection team observed some good work at Queen Margaret Hospital, including good communication and practice around the prescribing of anti-microbial drugs and the hospital using innovative methods to raise awareness on the importance of good hand hygiene.

"However, inspectors also identified a number of concerns, including the need for more robust monitoring of cleaning and the need to ensure staff at every level adhere to the national hand washing and dress code policies."

Ms Sturgeon added, "NHS Fife has since published an improvement plan and they have given an assurance that all of the action areas identified in the report are being addressed.

"I expect them to make swift progress in implementing the plan and the inspectorate will monitor this through further planned and unannounced inspections.

"We need to ensure that we provide care of the highest quality and do all we can to protect patients from the risk of healthcare associated infections."

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micky mac
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Feb 22, 19:01
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its terrible these pictures on the news iontonight .this is beyound a joke no wounder patients catch infections and die .its not that long ago the hospital hit the news about c diff and mrsa .also staff still going into work with uniforms on also about staff not useing hand gels .this was going on when my wife was in hospital last year so just goes to show somestaff just dont care .some do use hand gels some dont .im glad none of my family are in these wards that have been mentioned i no ward 11 is admissions unit for surgical because my wife was in this last year and took diarreah bug through the night also she got moved to ward 10 before she took it she also got dischage with this next day .so must have caught it in there .its all quite distressing to see this in the news .theres also talk to put a/e to kircadly how on earth they going to cope cause cant cope just now

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I Thomson
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Feb 22, 21:28
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micky mac, the new A&E department for Fife is indeed going to the Vic in Kirkcaldy. A&E will close at QM when the new A&E opens next year

besides, is this the beginning of the long-term decline for QM?

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Lucy B
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Feb 23, 09:07
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New A&E open next year.................thats not what the word on the inside says try 2012 or later.......total shambles!!!

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Maxine
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Feb 24, 14:25
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To be honest, I'm not entirely surprised. A couple of years ago it was the same. My gran was on a ward and contracted C.Diff and was there for months with it. On many occasions she was left to sit in her own waste for hours on end. Even now the public toilets area disgrace and I would rather drive to the local Asda to go to the loo.

Just don't think anyone cares anymore.

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Lucy B
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Feb 24, 15:43
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Its not that they dont care anymore Maxine but there are so many other jobs landed on clinical staff they just dont physically have time to get everything done.

Cleaning is important, but so is caring, the staff are under constant pressure to clean clean clean as well as caring for patients. There is often no extra help provided when things get busy, so somethings get missed. They need more staff full stop!!

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micky mac
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Feb 24, 19:34
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lucy b do you work in hospital bye any chance when did nurses start to clean .at end of day do they excpet to have a easy shift ,thats there job to care for the sick [nurses[ and cleaners are enployed to CLEAN which ive saw for my own eyes quick wipe some are deadacated to there jobs others are not

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john winton
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Feb 26, 17:21
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Yes it is true that all acute services move to Kirkcaldy spring 2012.Then QMH changes to effectively a day hospital over an unspecified time period and if ther is enough cash left What we see now is NHS Fife skimping on maintainence in the acute areas as theyonly have 2 years to go

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micky mac
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Feb 27, 11:04
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as you say john winton if they have cash now they should use it to do up what they have in q.m.h. and buy new mattresses .its in need of major clean up

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