Hospitals to face random checks on cleanliness

INSPECTORS are to make random checks on hygiene levels and infection control in Scottish hospitals as part of a crackdown on superbugs, it was announced yesterday.

The plan comes after an audit of cleaning standards in the NHS found surfaces covered with dust, dirty floors and poor levels of cleanliness at several sites.

Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish health secretary, said it was vital the public had confidence in the NHS and annual spot-checks were key to ensuring this.

Until now, such checks have largely depended on self-assessments by health boards.

Ms Sturgeon also announced that single rooms would become the norm in all new hospitals.

Launching the plans at Edinburgh's Western General Hospital, Ms Sturgeon said the new inspection regime would ensure hospitals were following the highest standards of infection-prevention and environmental cleanliness, which were key to combating bugs such as MRSA and Clostridium difficile.

She said there were concerns current checks lacked transparency for the public.

The independent inspections will be carried out by a new body – the Care Environment Inspectorate.

Parts of all boards will have unannounced visits each year, while every hospital will be visited at least once every three years.

"I will hold boards accountable to maintain the highest possible infection-prevention and control standards at all times," Ms Sturgeon said.

She also said single rooms were a "great step forward in infection control and patient dignity".

In new hospitals, she said, the presumption would be that all patients would be treated in single rooms, while at least 50 per cent of beds at refurbished sites must be in single rooms.

A report commissioned by Health Facilities Scotland, also published yesterday, identified NHS sites where cleaning was inadequate.

In some areas, inspectors found high levels of dust, dirty floors, old paintwork and poor levels of cleanliness.

The Scottish Government has already announced a raft of measures, backed by £54 million in funding, including a national MRSA screening programme and a C difficile reference lab for Scotland to speed up diagnosis.

Labour called for more action to tackle hospital bugs and accused Ms Sturgeon of "complacency" in tackling infections.

The party's public health spokesman, Dr Richard Simpson, called for hospital-based reporting so people knew how their local hospital performed.

Conservative public health spokesman Jackson Carlaw said: "While we welcome much of the government's recent proposals to tackle hospital-acquired infections, there is still a great deal more to be done."

Unhealthy picture of hygiene

WHILE many NHS sites met strict cleanliness standards, others fell short, according to an auditors' report.

• A visit to Borders General Hospital discovered "dust levels were higher than expected". Auditors found "unacceptable" dust levels in A&E – since addressed.

• At Falkirk Royal Hospital, cleaning standards were "very poor" in some public areas. Auditors found old fixtures and fittings and said many floor surfaces needed to be replaced. They also found dirt on skirtings and ledges in corridors.

• Staff sickness levels were cited as a reason for low standards at some sites, including within NHS Grampian and NHS Lothian.

• At Perth Royal Infirmary, auditors found high levels of dust. They said: "The natural wood ledges and skirtings looked clean, but were unacceptable to touch."

• There were better reports for some sites. Western Isles Hospital's cleanliness in A&E was "excellent".

• Raigmore Hospital in Inverness was praised for its "very pleasant patient environments".