A new cleaning routine in Glasgow's Queen Elizabeth University Hospital will mean some rooms' toilets won't be cleaned between patients.
The new procedure, introduced by hospital bosses last week, has been put in place alongside other changes that will see nursing staff take on more hygiene duties.
Hospital staff have called out the changes and claimed that the health board have "got this really wrong."
READ MORE:
- Glasgow hospital staff told to wear face masks due to outbreaks as wards closed
- 'Sturgeon and other former ministers should face QEUH criminal probe'
- Health board admits QEUH water' likely' caused patient infections
- Glasgow’s super-hospital still under scrutiny ten years on
A staff member at the QEUH, who wished to remain anonymous, told the Glasgow Times that they weren't happy when the changes came into effect last week.
They said: "They have a new discharge policy for the rooms.
"They are allowing new patients to enter the rooms when the floor or toilets haven’t been cleaned since the last patient left.
"Staff morale is at an all-time low - the hospital bosses have got this really wrong.
"Their argument is that people use public toilets, and they aren’t cleaned constantly.
"Well, people don’t have life-changing surgeries and then use public toilets!
"The whole idea of the hospital was single rooms for cleanliness."
However, it is understood that these changes bring them in line with other hospitals in the country, and that a nurse will check each room to determine whether the en-suite needs cleaning before the new patient enters.
An NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde spokesperson said: "The safety of our patients, visitors and staff is our main priority, and our dedicated staff work tirelessly to ensure the highest standards of cleanliness across our hospitals.
"All in-patient rooms and en-suite facilities within Queen Elizabeth University Hospital are cleaned daily by our domestic services staff, in line with the NHS Scotland national cleaning services specification.
"When rooms are being made ready for the next admission, a full check is undertaken by nursing staff, and if additional cleaning is required, it will be promptly carried out by domestic services staff to ensure the room meets the highest standards of hygiene before being occupied by a new patient.
"This cleaning regime has been agreed with senior nursing leaders and our infection control teams, and developed with partners including our trade unions."
Another change implemented is that nursing staff will now take over the entire process of stripping and changing hospital beds; cleaning was previously undertaken by domestic cleaning staff.
READ NEXT:
- Anas Sarwar vows to pass Milly's Law over deaths linked to hospital water system
- New 'virtual hospital' to support patients in their own homes
- Glasgow hospital becomes first in Scotland to introduce rapid cardiac testing
It comes as the health board made an eleventh-hour admission that contaminated water at the QEUH probably caused serious infections among vulnerable patients, including children with cancer.
In closing submissions to the inquiry published ahead of final oral hearings, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) said it accepts that it is “more likely than not that a material proportion of the additional environmentally relevant bloodstream infections (BSI) in the paediatric haemato-oncology population between 2016 and 2018 had a connection to the state of the hospital water system”.
It added: “NHSGGC accepts that, on the balance of probabilities, there is a causal connection between some infections suffered by patients and the hospital environment, in particular the water system.
“NHSGGC departs from its earlier submissions in this regard, having heard all expert evidence.”
Following this, Anas Sarwar called for a criminal investigation into the senior managers at the board, as well as former government ministers, including Nicola Sturgeon.
Share