TOMORROW’S CLEANING OCTOBER 09
Shocking accounts of hospital care released
The Patients Association has recently published Patients Not Numbers, Pamela Goddard
People Not statistics -16 first hand accounts of patient care in hospitals. “Upsettingly for my brother
These personal accounts not only depicted the lack of basic care, but who visited her frequently,
appalling hygiene conditions. she was often found in her
As hygiene is hugely important everywhere, even more so in hospitals
own faeces and urine when
or healthcare facilities, these accounts are both disappointing and
he arrived. He would need
shocking.
to prompt staff to come and
wash and change her.”
The Patients Association has since called on the Government and the
Care Quality Commission to conduct an urgent review of the standards
Thomas Milner
of basic care being received by patients in hospital and demands stricter
“The nurse also failed to
supervision and regulation of hospital care.
provide incontinence
pads as had been done
Director of the Patients Association Katherine Murphy said “Whilst Mid
during the evening and
Staffordshire may have been an anomaly in terms of scale the PA knew
night before. He was





the kinds of appalling treatment given there could be found across the
bleeding rectally and he
NHS. This report removes any doubt and makes this clear to all. Two of
ended up laying in
the accounts come from Stafford, and they sadly fail to stand out from
urine and blood. He
the others.”
also wet the floor and
“These accounts tell the story of the two percent of patients that
my elderly mother wiped this up while the
consistently rate their care as poor. If this was extrapolated to the whole
nurse and assistant nurse watched on and did nothing to help. They did
of the NHS from 2002 to 2008 it would equate to over 1 million
not even bring a mop and bucket afterwards to disinfect the floor.”
patients. Very often these are the most vulnerable elderly and terminally
Patient A
ill patients-it’s a sad indictment of the care they receive.”
“The toilet was disgusting. It was soiled and had a soiled toilet brush.
The short accounts below are just a few of 16 personal testimonials:
The public toilets downstairs were bad enough, often dirty and blocked.
It’s horrifying to see this in a hospital let alone on a ward. There are
Leslie Kirk
countries poorer than us yet their hospitals are clean and immaculate.”
“Toilets were not cleaned properly with faeces clearly left from several
previous uses. My sister often had to clean them herself before she’d let
To read the full accounts visit:
my father use them.” www.patients-association.org.uk
Winning flu fight High mortality
It has been recently reported that the UK
is extremely close to winning the
hospitals named
battle against swine flu.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has revealed a list of hospitals
Chief medical officer, Sir Liam
where the mortality rate is unusually high. The rates were so high in
Donaldson has explained that
while past pandemics have
fact, that they warranted a formal investigation.
claimed many lives, the death toll Overall there were 85 alerts that required investigations but only
for swine flu is relatively low in
seven of these were required to take action to improve their standards
comparison.
of care.
But a surge of new cases during the colder
months is still expected, so the NHS should be prepared for the worst
These included the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, where
case scenario. Sir Liam has unveiled plans to double available beds in
appalling care led to between 400 and 1,200 patients dying.
intensive care to help combat this.
While the cause for these high mortality rates could stem from a
Do you think that we should be worried? Email
number of things, if past experience is anything to go by, hygiene
charlotte@opusbusinessmedia.co.ukand tell us your thoughts. could still be a huge issue.
32
| TOMORROW’S CLEANING | The future of our cleaning industry
HEALTHCARE & HOSPITAL HYGIENE
Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72