Hospital staff rapped on infection control

Published on Thursday 8 July 2010 15:59

STAFF at a Scottish hospital have been criticised for failing to follow procedures to cut the spread of infections such as MRSA.

An inspection at Hairmyres Hospital in East Kilbride also criticised staff for changing into their uniforms in the toilets, and found poor communication between clinical staff and the PFI contractors providing cleaning and catering at the site.

However, despite, the criticisms, the Healthcare Environment Inspectorate (HEI) said the hospital was "generally clean and in a good state of repair".

As part of its PFI contract, private firm ISS does a range of work at Hairmyres, including cleaning and maintenance.

The HEI report said senior staff at the hospital "spoke positively" about the communication between NHS Lanarkshire and the contractor.

But inspectors found when they spoke to ward staff, comments were made that "there was a 'them and us' culture between staff employed by NHS Lanarkshire and the hospital service provider".

"There is a large discrepancy between what senior management believes is happening and what is taking place at ward level," the report said.

Elsewhere in their report, inspectors found that different versions of the board's infection control manual were in use in different areas, including sections that were out of date. And although Hairmyres has a large staff changing facility, some nursing staff reported getting changed in the toilets.

While the report said standards of cleanliness were satisfactory in the areas they inspected, they found some areas that were dusty and also a commode marked as clean and ready to use which was in fact dirty.

Susan Brimelow, HEI chief inspector, said: "Overall, we found the hospital is generally clean and in a good state of repair.

"However, there are some important areas for improvement to ensure that patients, staff and visitors are protected from the risk of acquiring an infection.

"In particular, we found staff were not all following good infection control practices. We found a lack of communication between senior management, and ward based staff as well as poor communication with the hospital contractor."

Health secretary Nicola Sturgeon said:"While this report highlights a number of areas of good practice, it also identifies weaknesses and I expect NHS Lanarkshire to work with the inspectorate to address these."

Tim Davison, chief executive of NHS Lanarkshire, said:"We treat any examples of non-compliance with our infection control procedures very seriously and will take an urgent and zero tolerance approach in these cases. NHS Lanarkshire works closely with Hairmyres Hospital and we will continue to look at how communications with them can be further improved."