Expect the unexpected visit, hygiene watchdog tells hospitals

SCOTTISH hospitals must be prepared to be inspected at any time in efforts to improve cleanliness and tackle infections, the head of the inspection watchdog has said.

Susan Brimelow, chief inspector of the Healthcare Environment Inspectorate (HEI), said patients and the public expected hospitals to be up to scratch when they carried out unannounced inspections.

A report by the HEI has found that the majority of hospital staff believe inspections had been effective and led to changes in practice. It comes after some of Scotland’s leading hospitals performed poorly in their recent spot checks.

The HEI was set up in 2009 to carry out inspections in Scotland’s hospitals to reduce the risk of infections such as MRSA and Clostridium difficile.

The first year of checks involved mostly announced visits where hospitals knew in advance that inspectors were coming. But the last year has seen a move towards more unannounced checks where no notice is given.

Recent unannounced inspections at two of Scotland’s biggest hospital raised concerns about standards of cleanliness.

On a visit to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, inspectors found dirty toilets, dusty floors and badly stained walls. And last week, a report on the Southern General in Glasgow raised “significant concerns” over cleanliness after finding dirty equipment and dusty floors.

Ms Brimelow said there was widespread backing for unannounced checks and it was important hospitals were prepared to be inspected at any time.

“I do believe that is the best way to go. It is certainly what the patients and public want,” she told The Scotsman.

“The Patients Association and Nicola Sturgeon are very clear about unannounced inspections. That means that we expect hospitals to be ready to be inspected at any time.

“Also for staff it means they are not in a lather to be inspected. They have to be ready to be inspected at any time.”

The HEI has now published the results of a survey of NHS staff who were asked what they thought of the first year of inspections, when most were given notice of the visits. The results revealed that 96.7 per cent of staff said they believed the inspection process was valuable and led to improvements.

The report also found that 96 per cent said action was taken to make improvements after being given verbal feedback on the day of the inspection, while 74.7 per cent said further action was taken after the publication of the report on their check.

Ms Brimelow said: “I was quite surprised when these findings came in from health board staff who had been subject of inspection. Health boards were fairly negative about introducing inspections across NHS Scotland and some people said it was a brave thing to do to send a questionnaire to ask how well we did our inspection.”

Dr Jean Turner, from the Scotland Patients Association, said the organisation supported unannounced inspections of hospitals as the best way of making sure standards were being met.

“As far as we’re concerned it is a waste of time and money doing any other kind of inspection,” she said.

“Hospitals should not be given notice that inspectors are coming.”