We read in the Guardian that 21 NHS trusts have failed hygiene standards that determine whether they are safe to treat patients. Among these dirty hospitals are Barts in London, one of the oldest medical centres in Europe, Leeds teaching hospitals and Alder Hey children's hospital in Liverpool.
Britain's dirty hospitals have long been regarded as a national scandal and there are many people who fear ever having to go into one as a patient in case they become infected by any of the so-called superbugs. Many years ago the opposite was the case, and our hospitals were very clean indeed. I personally think that as well as exhorting staff, patients and patients' visitors to wash their hands more and to use the antiseptic hand-gels, that setting limits on hours of hospital visiting would help a lot, and being stricter about the number of visitors at a time per patient.
Showing posts with label Britain's dirty hospitals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Britain's dirty hospitals. Show all posts
Saturday, 4 April 2009
Wednesday, 24 December 2008
Paul Clements disagrees with Sir Richard Branson about the best way to tackle MRSA in hospitals.
Sir Richard Branson's plan to tackle MRSA will come to grief
article in the Telegraph, written by Paul Clements
Extract:
"Unless you ensure everyone who enters a hospital is clear of Staphylococcus aureus, Branson’s plan is all but meaningless.
article in the Telegraph, written by Paul Clements
Extract:
"Unless you ensure everyone who enters a hospital is clear of Staphylococcus aureus, Branson’s plan is all but meaningless.
The cheapest and simplest solution remains good hygiene – by the cleaning staff, nurses and visitors alike. Spread by contact with contaminated skin and unclean surfaces, poor sanitary procedures ensure that MRSA is a menace to the NHS.
Unless both staff and visitors are made to wear plastic gowns when at a patient’s bedside and to rub their hands with alcohol gel before and after a visit – the bacteria will thrive.
Earlier this month, I was back in an A&E ward, sat for six hours with a neighbour who had collapsed in his bathroom. Of the dozen or so staff who came to check up on him, only one used the alcohol rub before or after they had examined him. There was dried blood on the ward floor, next to scraps of unbinned surgical waste.
Rather than taking staff out of the NHS to have them disinfected, Sir Richard might do better to suggest putting in more who know their way around a mop and bucket. Either that, or start a whistleblower’s phoneline."
(Sir Richard Branson accuses politicians of failing over hospital superbugs
article in the Telegraph)
Wednesday, 14 May 2008
More than three million NHS patients are still being admitted to mixed-sex wards each year despite repeated promises by ministers to end this.
Mixed-sex NHS wards for 3m patients
Extracts from the Telegraph:
"A study published by the Healthcare Commission has also found that hospitals were getting dirtier, fewer staff were always washing their hands before touching patients and a fifth of people who needed help with meals were still not getting it.
Extracts from the Telegraph:
"A study published by the Healthcare Commission has also found that hospitals were getting dirtier, fewer staff were always washing their hands before touching patients and a fifth of people who needed help with meals were still not getting it.
Its survey of 76,000 inpatients in England – the largest of its kind – measured hospitals on factors that included quality of care, dignity and respect, privacy, waiting times, complaints and quality and availability of information."
"Last year, almost 13 million people stayed at least one night in hospitals in England, meaning that up to 3.2 million were admitted to a mixed-sex ward.
Nearly a third of patients also reported having to use a bathroom shared with members of the opposite sex.
Medway NHS Trust in Kent was the worst in the country for mixed-sex wards, with a score of 54.83. The Cardiothoracic Centre in Liverpool rated highest on 97.45.
Labour first promised to abolish mixed-sex wards in 2002 but after arguments over what constituted a ward or a sleeping area, Lord Darzi, the health minister and a practising surgeon, said single-sex wards were "an aspiration that cannot be met". "Friday, 29 February 2008
Lord Mancroft condemns poor nursing and poor hygiene at Bath's dirty Royal United Hospital.
Lord Mancroft attacks 'grubby, drunken' nurses
Extracts from the Telegraph:
"A Conservative peer has delivered a devastating attack on nurses who looked after him during a stay in hospital describing them as "grubby, drunken and promiscuous"."
"He told peers: "The nurses that looked after me were mostly grubby. We're talking about dirty fingernails, slipshod, lazy.
Extracts from the Telegraph:
"A Conservative peer has delivered a devastating attack on nurses who looked after him during a stay in hospital describing them as "grubby, drunken and promiscuous"."
"He told peers: "The nurses that looked after me were mostly grubby. We're talking about dirty fingernails, slipshod, lazy.
"It's a miracle I'm still alive. But worst of all my Lords they were drunken and promiscuous.
"How do I know that? Because if you're a patient and you're lying in a bed, and you're being nursed from either side, they talk across you as if you're not there.
"So I know exactly what they got up to the night before, and how much they drank, and I know exactly what they were planning to do the next night, and I can tell you, it's pretty horrifying.""
Sunday, 12 August 2007
British hospitals: filthy, verminous, appallingly unhygienic kitchens.
Scandal of filthy hospital kitchens - Observer
Extract:
"A searing indictment of the cleanliness of hospital kitchens is revealed today in research showing that almost half are plagued by vermin, risk infections by storing food incorrectly or employ staff with poor personal hygiene.
Official inspection reports reveal that breaches of food hygiene laws include infestations of mice and cockroaches, kitchen staff not washing their hands, food being kept at the wrong temperature and remnants of meals becoming stuck in equipment.
Other hazardous incidents included ice cream and prawns being stored together in fridges and freezers, orange juice kept next to chemicals and patients' meal trays being used to transport contaminated material from the wards.
The reality of the conditions in which hospital food is prepared is laid bare in a series of official hygiene examinations carried out by environmental health officers, which have been passed to The Observer.
Of 377 National Health Service and private hospitals surveyed in England, 173 - 46 per cent - were found to have poor cleanliness in their kitchens, or canteens or cafes used by staff, patients and visitors. Nine of the 377 were private hospitals, of which six were found to have at least one area of concern. Eleven of the 173 had experienced a vermin or pest problem, 57 employed catering staff who displayed inadequate personal hygiene and 18 were found to stock out-of-date food. Sixty-eight did not meet the legal minimum standard for food storage and 66 were storing food at the wrong temperature, which can stimulate the growth of bacteria.
'These findings paint a shocking picture of hospital food hygiene,' said the Liberal Democrats' shadow health secretary, Norman Lamb, who used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain from 145 local authorities their most recent food hygiene inspection reports for hospitals they monitor.
'It is simply unacceptable that such terrible practices are taking place in an environment where hygiene and safety should be paramount. Sick people are already vulnerable to infection. They don't need the added risk of food-borne bacteria spread by lax standards.'
He suggested the creation of a new system of clear and accessible ratings for hygiene levels in hospital kitchens, with the worst performers being 'named and shamed' as a way of driving up standards to benefit patients."
I'm well impressed by Norman Lamb's tenacity in getting at the facts in this and other health matters. While bad practice is hidden, it continues and usually worsens. Once light is shed on bad practice, there is much more likelihood that some remedial action will be taken. - 'Naming and shaming', as he suggests, sounds an excellent idea. - 'Naming and sacking' would be even more effective, in my opinion...
Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
How to Lose weight!
See my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/.html
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)
Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection
See Sodium in foods and
http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/story.html - my 'political' page
http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/socio.html - social and economic considerations
I can be contacted via my website if you need my further help. My help is free.
Extract:
"A searing indictment of the cleanliness of hospital kitchens is revealed today in research showing that almost half are plagued by vermin, risk infections by storing food incorrectly or employ staff with poor personal hygiene.
Official inspection reports reveal that breaches of food hygiene laws include infestations of mice and cockroaches, kitchen staff not washing their hands, food being kept at the wrong temperature and remnants of meals becoming stuck in equipment.
Other hazardous incidents included ice cream and prawns being stored together in fridges and freezers, orange juice kept next to chemicals and patients' meal trays being used to transport contaminated material from the wards.
The reality of the conditions in which hospital food is prepared is laid bare in a series of official hygiene examinations carried out by environmental health officers, which have been passed to The Observer.
Of 377 National Health Service and private hospitals surveyed in England, 173 - 46 per cent - were found to have poor cleanliness in their kitchens, or canteens or cafes used by staff, patients and visitors. Nine of the 377 were private hospitals, of which six were found to have at least one area of concern. Eleven of the 173 had experienced a vermin or pest problem, 57 employed catering staff who displayed inadequate personal hygiene and 18 were found to stock out-of-date food. Sixty-eight did not meet the legal minimum standard for food storage and 66 were storing food at the wrong temperature, which can stimulate the growth of bacteria.
'These findings paint a shocking picture of hospital food hygiene,' said the Liberal Democrats' shadow health secretary, Norman Lamb, who used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain from 145 local authorities their most recent food hygiene inspection reports for hospitals they monitor.
'It is simply unacceptable that such terrible practices are taking place in an environment where hygiene and safety should be paramount. Sick people are already vulnerable to infection. They don't need the added risk of food-borne bacteria spread by lax standards.'
He suggested the creation of a new system of clear and accessible ratings for hygiene levels in hospital kitchens, with the worst performers being 'named and shamed' as a way of driving up standards to benefit patients."
I'm well impressed by Norman Lamb's tenacity in getting at the facts in this and other health matters. While bad practice is hidden, it continues and usually worsens. Once light is shed on bad practice, there is much more likelihood that some remedial action will be taken. - 'Naming and shaming', as he suggests, sounds an excellent idea. - 'Naming and sacking' would be even more effective, in my opinion...
Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
How to Lose weight!
See my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/.html
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)
Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection
See Sodium in foods and
http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/story.html - my 'political' page
http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/socio.html - social and economic considerations
I can be contacted via my website if you need my further help. My help is free.
Monday, 9 July 2007
Chase Farm hospital in Enfield, north London, flagrantly breach hygiene regulations re MRSA and Clostridium difficile.
Health inspectors find hospital in breach of hygiene code - Guardian
Extract:
"Health inspectors intervened last night to protect patients at an NHS hospital after they discovered it was in flagrant breach of hygiene regulations.
The Healthcare Commission served an improvement notice on Chase Farm hospital in Enfield, north London, after a spot check found staff were breaking the rules for combating the superbugs MRSA and Clostridium difficile. It was the first use of a new legal power to enforce the hygiene code introduced in October to stop the spread of healthcare-linked infections.
The commission found no excuse for the lapses at the hospital, which is one of two large units run by Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS trust. It noted that the trust board recently signed a self-assessment declaring its hospitals to be in full compliance with the code.
During unannounced visits, inspectors found a catalogue of defects."
Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
How to Lose weight!
See my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/.html
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)
Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection
See Sodium in foods
I can be contacted via my website if you need my further help. My help is free...(o:
Extract:
"Health inspectors intervened last night to protect patients at an NHS hospital after they discovered it was in flagrant breach of hygiene regulations.
The Healthcare Commission served an improvement notice on Chase Farm hospital in Enfield, north London, after a spot check found staff were breaking the rules for combating the superbugs MRSA and Clostridium difficile. It was the first use of a new legal power to enforce the hygiene code introduced in October to stop the spread of healthcare-linked infections.
The commission found no excuse for the lapses at the hospital, which is one of two large units run by Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS trust. It noted that the trust board recently signed a self-assessment declaring its hospitals to be in full compliance with the code.
During unannounced visits, inspectors found a catalogue of defects."
Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
How to Lose weight!
See my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/.html
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)
Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection
See Sodium in foods
I can be contacted via my website if you need my further help. My help is free...(o:
Monday, 2 July 2007
Dirty hospitals must clean up, says Gordon Brown
Dirty hospitals must clean up, says Brown - Guardian
Extract:
"A drive to slash the rates of MRSA and other hospital infections is being masterminded by Gordon Brown, who is convinced that the public's perception of the NHS has been swayed by concerns over cleanliness on the wards.
Brown has told close colleagues that they will never win 'hearts and minds' over the health service reforms until they can demonstrate that the wards really are cleaner, and that they are cutting the numbers of patients being infected.
The Prime Minister and his aides have become alarmed that one in four hospitals is still not meeting the hygiene targets imposed in November 2004 by the then Health Secretary John Reid. Hospital-acquired infections (HAI) now affect some 300,000 people a year, and despite better control measures appear to be epidemic in some areas. The government is unlikely to meet the target it has set itself, of halving the numbers diagnosed with MRSA by next April.
Brown chose to highlight the issue of hospital cleanliness yesterday, on his first visit to a hospital - Kingston, in south-west London - as Prime Minister. A team of experts is being set up within the Department of Health to look at new measures to deal with the problem. The new health minister, the surgeon Professor Ara Darzi, will be asked to devise a new strategy to combat the infections.
Since MRSA first hit British hospitals 10 years ago, it has spread across the country, as an increasing number of people became resistant to antibiotics, coupled with poor cleaning on the wards and the fast turnover of patients."
Boost your immunity to infection and lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better! -How to Lose weight!
See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)
Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection
See Sodium in foods
I can be contacted via my website if you need my further help. My help is free...(o:
Extract:
"A drive to slash the rates of MRSA and other hospital infections is being masterminded by Gordon Brown, who is convinced that the public's perception of the NHS has been swayed by concerns over cleanliness on the wards.
Brown has told close colleagues that they will never win 'hearts and minds' over the health service reforms until they can demonstrate that the wards really are cleaner, and that they are cutting the numbers of patients being infected.
The Prime Minister and his aides have become alarmed that one in four hospitals is still not meeting the hygiene targets imposed in November 2004 by the then Health Secretary John Reid. Hospital-acquired infections (HAI) now affect some 300,000 people a year, and despite better control measures appear to be epidemic in some areas. The government is unlikely to meet the target it has set itself, of halving the numbers diagnosed with MRSA by next April.
Brown chose to highlight the issue of hospital cleanliness yesterday, on his first visit to a hospital - Kingston, in south-west London - as Prime Minister. A team of experts is being set up within the Department of Health to look at new measures to deal with the problem. The new health minister, the surgeon Professor Ara Darzi, will be asked to devise a new strategy to combat the infections.
Since MRSA first hit British hospitals 10 years ago, it has spread across the country, as an increasing number of people became resistant to antibiotics, coupled with poor cleaning on the wards and the fast turnover of patients."
Boost your immunity to infection and lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better! -How to Lose weight!
See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)
Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection
See Sodium in foods
I can be contacted via my website if you need my further help. My help is free...(o:
Monday, 18 June 2007
One in four local NHS organisations in England is failing to comply with basic hygiene standards, reports Healthcare Commission.
Quarter of hospitals miss superbug targets - Telegraph
Extracts:
"A Healthcare Commission report shows 99 of 394 healthcare trusts admitted to failing to have adequate infection control, safely decontaminate reusable medical equipment or keep their facilities clean."
"Katherine Murphy, of the Patients' Association, said: "We are killing more people with C. difficile than on our roads. The death toll with MRSA is equivalent to two train crashes every week.
"These are avoidable infections. Every week there is a different priority for the Government. Infection control has never been given a high priority.""
"Compliance with two standards on treating patients with dignity and respect, and privacy and confidentiality, also fell slightly."
"Norman Lamb, the Liberal Democrat health spokesman, said: "It is shocking that after countless Government initiatives the number of hospitals failing to protect patients from these infections has doubled."
• To view the full report, visit www.healthcarecommission.org.uk"
"Four trusts reported failing to meet any of the three hygiene standards. They were:
• Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust
• Sheffield PCT
• Sutton And Merton PCT
• Wiltshire PCT"
What do you think should be done about this deplorable state of affairs?
Do you fear to go into hospital because of the lack of cleanliness and hygiene there? Or because of the way you are treated there? Dare you remonstrate with a doctor or nurse who hasn't washed their hands when they should have done? - Have you written to your MP about your concerns? Has s/he done anything about the matter?
Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)
Extracts:
"A Healthcare Commission report shows 99 of 394 healthcare trusts admitted to failing to have adequate infection control, safely decontaminate reusable medical equipment or keep their facilities clean."
"Katherine Murphy, of the Patients' Association, said: "We are killing more people with C. difficile than on our roads. The death toll with MRSA is equivalent to two train crashes every week.
"These are avoidable infections. Every week there is a different priority for the Government. Infection control has never been given a high priority.""
"Compliance with two standards on treating patients with dignity and respect, and privacy and confidentiality, also fell slightly."
"Norman Lamb, the Liberal Democrat health spokesman, said: "It is shocking that after countless Government initiatives the number of hospitals failing to protect patients from these infections has doubled."
• To view the full report, visit www.healthcarecommission.org.uk"
"Four trusts reported failing to meet any of the three hygiene standards. They were:
• Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust
• Sheffield PCT
• Sutton And Merton PCT
• Wiltshire PCT"
What do you think should be done about this deplorable state of affairs?
Do you fear to go into hospital because of the lack of cleanliness and hygiene there? Or because of the way you are treated there? Dare you remonstrate with a doctor or nurse who hasn't washed their hands when they should have done? - Have you written to your MP about your concerns? Has s/he done anything about the matter?
Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)
Monday, 4 June 2007
Dirty NHS hospitals will be pressed to improve.
Superbug ultimatum to dirty hospitals - Telegraph
Extract:
"Hospitals will be served with "improvement notices" if they fail to tackle MRSA and Clostridium difficile, the health watchdog announced today.
Experts from the Healthcare Commission will make "spot checks" on 120 NHS trusts in England over the next year.
Those that are not up to scratch could be served with an improvement notice or be put in special measures.
The crackdown comes after figures showed that C.diff is still on the rise.
Health Protection Agency statistics released in April identified 55,681 cases of the potentially fatal bug in patients aged 65 and over in England in 2006. That figure was up eight per cent on reported cases in 2005."
Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)
Extract:
"Hospitals will be served with "improvement notices" if they fail to tackle MRSA and Clostridium difficile, the health watchdog announced today.
Experts from the Healthcare Commission will make "spot checks" on 120 NHS trusts in England over the next year.
Those that are not up to scratch could be served with an improvement notice or be put in special measures.
The crackdown comes after figures showed that C.diff is still on the rise.
Health Protection Agency statistics released in April identified 55,681 cases of the potentially fatal bug in patients aged 65 and over in England in 2006. That figure was up eight per cent on reported cases in 2005."
Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)
Saturday, 28 April 2007
Britain's dirty hospitals breed disease...)o:
Among the Daily Letters to the Telegraph today, under a sub-heading of "Our dirty hospitals breed disease", is this letter:
"Sir - I am a patient in a ward of a large East Midlands hospital. My bedding has not been changed for six days and the hand disinfectant provided at the bottom of the bed is almost never used.
The daily cleaning of the ward consists of a cursory dry mop, followed by an even more cursory wipe over with a wet mop loaded with dirty water.
Visiting one of the hospital departments, I found so much litter in the corridors that I picked up some and put it in a bin to avoid embarrassing visitors. There is one shower for more than 30 patients, and cutlery and glass-wear seems poorly washed.
By my bed is a cotton-wool swab that has been there since I arrived. I am leaving it to see how long it is before a "cleaner" removes it. I expect the swab to be my longest hospital acquaintance when I leave.
Exotic diseases must be expected in such disgraceful conditions."
The writer of the letter correctly realises that disgraceful conditions like this should be given the oxygen of publicity. - 'Complaining' to the hospital staff directly would be likely to have no effect other than to become thought of as a trouble-maker.
Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)
"Sir - I am a patient in a ward of a large East Midlands hospital. My bedding has not been changed for six days and the hand disinfectant provided at the bottom of the bed is almost never used.
The daily cleaning of the ward consists of a cursory dry mop, followed by an even more cursory wipe over with a wet mop loaded with dirty water.
Visiting one of the hospital departments, I found so much litter in the corridors that I picked up some and put it in a bin to avoid embarrassing visitors. There is one shower for more than 30 patients, and cutlery and glass-wear seems poorly washed.
By my bed is a cotton-wool swab that has been there since I arrived. I am leaving it to see how long it is before a "cleaner" removes it. I expect the swab to be my longest hospital acquaintance when I leave.
Exotic diseases must be expected in such disgraceful conditions."
The writer of the letter correctly realises that disgraceful conditions like this should be given the oxygen of publicity. - 'Complaining' to the hospital staff directly would be likely to have no effect other than to become thought of as a trouble-maker.
Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)
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