Ealing Hospital Trust Acts Quickly On Inspectors' Recommendations, UK

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 22 Oct 2008 - 4:00 PDT

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Ealing Hospital has acted quickly to respond to the comments and recommendations made by Healthcare Commission inspectors.

The hospital received an unannounced visit from the inspectors in August as part of the annual programme of inspections to assess NHS Trusts' arrangements for the control and prevention of infections against the hygiene code.

The Trust is pleased that on a number of accounts the hospital is providing high quality services, such as in the information available to staff, patients and visitors about hygiene controls and the staff awareness around infection control policies.

However, the HCC team raised a number of issues including the need to review bed pan cleaning procedures and ensuring that endoscopy decontamination systems have a full risk assessment policy in place.

The Trust has acted immediately on the HCC recommendations to put new working practices and procedures in place that now fully meet the requirements of the Healthcare Commission.

Chief Executive, Julie Lowe, said: "We take hospital hygiene and the control of infection very seriously at the hospital. Maintaining high standards of cleanliness throughout the hospital is one of the key ways of controlling hospital-acquired infections.

" We continue to ensure appropriate decontamination of instruments and other equipment within the endoscopy suite is carried out, and have taken immediate action to fulfil all recommendations made by the Healthcare Commission.

"The Trust Board will be closely monitoring the effectiveness of the action plan put into place immediately after the visit to ensure that all the HCC's recommendations are fully in place."

The HCC assessors, who were here for two days, looked at the cleanliness of the hospital's environment as well as practices and procedures that are in place to prevent and manage infection. For example, the assessors looked at procedures for isolating patients, hand-washing and for the cleaning of equipment.

It was an in-depth inspection, four wards were visited; the emergency admissions unit; medicine; care of the elderly; general surgery and also the endoscopy suite. Staff were also interviewed to assess their knowledge of infection control procedures. The Healthcare Commission's findings were that the wards were clean and well maintained with regular cleaning audits involving the ward sisters.

Ealing Hospital NHS Trust