Hospital undergoes clean-up operation as inspectors visit

Published on Monday 18 January 2010 09:18

IT'S said that the Queen believes the whole country smells of fresh paint, because workmen toil round-the-clock ahead of every visit she makes.

The same may soon be said of hospital inspectors, say staff at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary – they complain they are enduring hordes of workmen, as well as being bombarded with directives and up to seven inspections a day ahead of a Healthcare Environment Inspectorate visit.

Senior managers are believed to be anxious to be well-prepared after the inspectorate's recent scathing report on hygiene at the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.

In one move, all paper notices have been ordered to be taken down and replaced with laminated copies, in order to stop the spread of infections.

The inspectorate begins a pre-announced visit to Little France today, which could continue until Wednesday, to evaluate cleanliness, infection control and other aspects of the hospital's work.

One staff member said ward 203 had been particularly busy, adding: "Over the last weekend and through the week they've been painting, decorating, fixing doors, you name it. That must be one that's being inspected. Sometimes there has been more workmen than hospital staff."

An ERI source added: "There have been umpteen e-mails every day about this, and a lot of the top guys are very visible.

"There are sometimes as many as seven inspections in one day. They are terrified they are going to get ripped to shreds. It's not so much the hygiene – it is a clean hospital – but the maintenance of the building that is causing concern.

"If the inspectors go to the theatres they will see that."

The flurry of activity has highlighted concerns about the effectiveness of pre-announced inspections, although the inspectorate can carry out unannounced follow-up visits if it discovers any areas of concern.

Margaret Watt, chairwoman of the Scotland Patients Association, said: "If these were unannounced inspections, they'd get a far clearer picture of what it is actually like in hospital, but when these reports come out, that fact will be very obvious to patients."

The inspection team are expected to visit the Western General and St John's Hospital in Livingston some time in the spring.

James McCaffery, NHS Lothian's chief operating officer for acute services, said: "The healthcare environment is a high priority for NHS Lothian.

"These inspections support and confirm the findings of our own robust regime of internal inspection and monitoring, which includes regular audits by our patient experience action teams."

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