Hospital slated over dirty wards and handwashing

HOSPITAL staff have been criticised for ignoring handwashing guidelines and not keeping certain wards clean enough in the fight to stop superbugs.

In the "disappointing" inspection of the Western General, the hospital came under fire for still not having enough spaces between beds and poor staffing levels.

The Healthcare Environment Inspectorate report also highlighted a lack of washing facilities for patients and criticised some staff for not disposing of surgical "sharps" properly.

It is the second inspection the Craigleith hospital has received in the last year, and many of the earlier failings have not been addressed. Some praise was outlined in the 23-page report, with HEI saying most areas of the hospital were clean.

Politicians have called for the shortcomings to be addressed and action taken at the Lothians' second acute hospital.

The health board's chief operating officer for acute services, Jackie Sansbury, said: "We recognise there were areas where the inspectors felt we had not improved from the previous visit, and these are being addressed, along with issues picked up from this inspection, as a matter of urgency through a detailed action plan."

The hospital's ward 11, which deals with dermatology and rheumatology, was the main focus of the report's criticism.

The team were appalled to find "skin debris" on a couch in the ward's day room, and stated almost every medical group - including nurses - were not washing their hands often enough. They stated: "The ward was not clean, particularly bathrooms, toilets and the kitchen."

Contrary to official instructions, only visual checks of mattresses were being made, risking the spread of infections like MRSA and C.diff, which have plagued Scottish hospitals for years. "Medical sharps" like scissors and needles were not being disposed of correctly in some cases. The Liberal Democrat's health spokesman Ross Finnie said: "This second report, which has found more failings, is a damning indictment of the senior management at the Western General. They have had ample opportunity to correct these failings and they have failed to do so.

"The health secretary (Nicola Sturgeon] should be asking very searching questions surrounding the incompetence of the senior management."

Other points of criticism included nurses using one tub of lipbalm for numerous patients and a domestic vacuum cleaner being used "to remove debris from the ultraviolet treatment cubicle".

Ms Sturgeon said: "Disappointingly, this report highlights that some improvements required after the last inspection have yet to be fully implemented.The inspectors have also called for further improvements following the most recent inspection."

Ms Sansbury added: "We welcome the HEI visits and use the inspection reports to ensure we continue to provide quality care in safe, clean and comfortable environments across NHS Lothian.

"The HEI singled out several areas of strength in the Western General, which included praising our hand hygiene audits, overall standards of cleanliness and our ongoing work to reduce the prevalence of MRSA.

"Since the inspection, we have already implemented a generic system to document the cleaning of equipment, which will ensure staff are following a universal system."