Cleanliness summit to tackle NHS services
Nurses and patients are to receive greater powers to help improve the cleanliness of hospital wards and equipment under new proposals set out by NHS chief executive David Nicholson this week.
Speaking ahead of a summit hosted for private and public sector cleaning representatives in London, the NHS chief executive outlined plans which will give nurses greater authority to order additional cleaning of their wards and allow the NHS organisations to act on patient feedback that rates the cleanliness of their hospital.
The summit, which aims to kick start discussions within the public and private sector, will be hosted by Nicholson and Health Minister Ann Keen and comes as the NHS is set to complete its £57m deep clean programme by which time every NHS hospital will have carried out a deep clean by the end of March.
Other plans earmarked for discussion include the publication of the latest information on MRSA rates for every hospital on the NHS Choices website aimed at creating greater transparency about where performance needs to improve.
He has proposed improvements to cleanliness in hospitals by making sure new national minimum cleanliness specifications are met. These will be monitored by Strategic Health Authorities and Primary Care Trusts and will be extended to ambulances and other health care settings in the summer. Also outlined is effort to ensure that where there is an ongoing concern that cleaning standards aren’t up to scratch, nursing staff and trusts can act, potentially leading to providers losing contracts.
Keen said: "As a result of the deep clean programme, we are already seeing a real and noticeable improvement in the cleanliness of the whole NHS estate. We will sustain and build on this improvement as part of routine cleaning across the NHS but we also know we need services which are better able to respond to nurse and patient concerns when they are raised at the ward level.
"The latest quarterly results show falls in C. difficile infections of 16% and MRSA infections of 35% compared to the same quarter the previous year. This provides further justification of the tough and controversial measures the Government is introducing to tackling infections. Since 2003, there have been three annual decreases in MRSA. These improvements are a testament to the hard work and dedication of NHS staff. But we are not complacent and we need to do more."
Nicholson said: “Cleaning services are critical to ensuring hospitals have the right environment to bring down infection rates."
The summit builds on steps already taken to improve hygiene and tackle infections. These include a new antibiotic campaign designed to raise awareness among the public and doctors of the unnecessary use of antibiotics, which can lead to increased resistance to infections. An extra £270m per year by 2010/11 has been committed by the Government to fight infections and improve cleanliness. This funding will allow local organisations to invest up to £45m on additional specialist staff, including antimicrobial pharmacists.