Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon expects infection control standards at the Western General Hospital to be improved ‘as a matter of urgency’ following a critical report published by the Healthcare Environment Inspectorate this week. The 23 page report, based on an unannounced inspection carried out on 24 January, highlights a number of areas of infection control where improvements are required. These include:
– Having a designated healthcare associated infection (HAI) education lead to oversee education and training
– Fully implementing the sharps management policy for disposal of used needles
– Having a robust risk management system in the Acute Receiving Admissions unit (ARU) with appropriate numbers of sinks, bed spacing and isolation practices
– Reviewing the risk assessment for activities in Ward 11 (which is a Dermatology ward).
Commenting on the report, Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said: “I set up the Healthcare Environment Inspectorate to drive up standards in Scotland’s hospitals by putting them under unprecedented levels of scrutiny. 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. NHS Lothian have already put in place an action plan to address the issues raised and I expect these to be tackled as a matter of urgency. The Inspectorate will continue to monitor progress to ensure that the required standards are being achieved.”
The report does highlight some improvements, however – inspectors reported that most areas of the hospital are clean and noted that ‘senior charge nurses had taken ownership of their ward environment to ensure cleaning standards were acceptable’.
Health chiefs are now working to address concerns following two critical inspections within the last 12 months. Jackie Sansbury, NHS Lothian’s chief operating officer for acute services, said: “We recognise that there were areas where he 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.”
Dave Pickering
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