Help Sitemap Home Skip Navigation Contact Us Disability Statement


Doctor calls for special unit to clean hospital beds

Premium Article !

Your account has been frozen. For your available options click the below button.

Options

Premium Article !

To read this article in full you must have registered and have a Premium Content Subscription with the The Scotsman site.

Subscribe

Registered Article !

To read this article in full you must be registered with the site.

Sign In
Register
Click on thumbnail to view image
Click on thumbnail to view image
Click on thumbnail to view image
Click on thumbnail to view image
Click on thumbnail to view image

Published Date: 01 July 2009
NEW hospitals should include a special area for cleaning furniture in the battle against infections, a doctor said yesterday.
Dr Maeve McPhillips, a radiologist at the Sick Kids Hospital in Edinburgh, said when she had worked in a Swiss hospital beds were taken out of the ward and cleaned between each patient.

Dr McPhillips, speaking as doctors met in Liverpool for their annual conference, said she had recently been impressed by standards of cleaning at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary where she had surgery. She said cleaners washed the floors thoroughly and nurses cleaned the beds.

But she added: "Is that what nurses ought to be doing?" In Switzerland beds were cleaned by other staff in a special unit.





The full article contains 127 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
Page 1 of 1

  • Last Updated: 30 June 2009 8:56 PM
  • Source: The Scotsman
  • Location: Edinburgh
 
1

Brodric,

01/07/2009 00:33:45
There should be a place for cleaning beds - but many beds could be cleaned in situ. There is a whole range of cleaning materials which are suitable for use within a ward. I keep saying, bring back the old system, it can't be any more expensive than what we have at present. We need matrons patrolling their patch; ward sisters who run the whole ward, including the cleaning staff, who should be dedicated to their own ward(s) and NHS employed. These teams are invaluable for cleaning wards throughout the day and also good for patients for the bit of banter and patient contact they provide. A hospital is NOT a business, though this doesn't mean that it need be inefficient.
2

S'me,

Edinburgh 01/07/2009 07:06:44
Where I used to work, when a patient was discharged, a team of people came immediately to the ward to clean the bed, lockers etc. This was not done by the ward cleaners or the nurses. They were very quick and thorough.
3

Sioux Man Chu,

01/07/2009 07:24:48
#1 - Nice idea - sisters running wards and matrons patrolling their patch however the reality now is that sisters and matrons are almost entirely office bound ticking boxes on pieces of paper for management to pass back up the way and then back to government. There is so much of it that they frequently end up taking even more of it home to do in their own time. I'm speaking from experience - and the way it should be isn't going to happen any time soon!
4

John JP,

01/07/2009 08:27:42
#3 I agree, and again its from experience.

 

Comment on this Story

 

In order to post comments you must Register or Sign In

 
 
RSS Feed of this article's comments
Delivery formats: RSS, Atom, Javascript & Email
 
  

 
 


Sister Newspapers:
Press Complaints Commission

This website and its associated newspaper adheres to the Press Complaints Commission’s Code of Practice. If you have a complaint about editorial content which relates to inaccuracy or intrusion, then contact the Editor by clicking here.

If you remain dissatisfied with the response provided then you can contact the PCC by clicking here.