Hospital cleaning!

My other half (who is a GP) had the misfortune to be in hospital for an operation last year. She was encouraged to see a cleaner coming round the ward every hour or so to wash up until she noticed the FILTHY water in the bucket. This was not a one-off - and was thus spreading germs across the floor rather than mopping them up.

Being as she is from Scandinavia she was more than a little shocked

Ian

How true. Scandinavian cleaners' buckets are full of crystal clear spring water. They have more control over the superbugs too! They dunk the hospital beds in a hot washing machine. The patients come out squeaky clean too.

Er Phritz... shouldn't you be holding Tarka's and Jewemy's hands, or something? Does Adam know you're "out"?

To keep hospitals clean we need to do the following for starters;

Ban visitors
Ban patients own clothes/shoes, strip and disenfect them on entry.
Do the same for staff.
Have a single entry point into the building. Close all windows.
Do not admit anyone with an infectious illness.
Nurse everyone in individual rooms.

Sorry to be unhelpful.

'Clean' hospitals are an impossible myth. Controlling the spread of certain infections between patients and the spread/development of resistant pathogens is another matter.

Bruce

A family member worked for years in Intensive Care. She complained for decades about nursing staff not washing their hands after visits to the lavatory.

Bruce ,

is right on this one.

I will add that i had occassion to work in a local GP practice recently.

I had the need to micturate so along to the STAFF TOILET in the Surgery.

Well i never.

A hot water boiler for the hot water. Fine except the hand controls were missing or damaged so could not use the hot water facility.

No paper towels to dry hands with. Only a SOILED GREY COTTON TOWEL.

So i had to wash my hands correctly and dry them properly in the STOCK ROOM sorry t/t room that i was using to t/t my pts.

It is not just Hospitals.

Many pts attend in faecally contaminated clothing as they have no concept of personal hygiene. So if in my opinion the primary source of infection is the PT followed closely by pts visitors how do we stop the public basically KILLING THEMSELVES with their own filthy habits.

Yes it is true that some NHS staff are not as thorough as they might be.

My favourite is the Managers who write the policies which they themselves do not adhere to when they visit wards.

regards David