Dirty Hospitals - Let's Cut Back On Cleaners

My blog entry on Friday 12th October concerned the infections that occurred in hospitals as a result of poor standards of hygiene and cleanliness. As often happens with these issues they are headline news one day and then disappear only to re-appear some time later when the media deem it newsworthy again because of a different slant that can be given to the story.

Well, that has now happened here. On the local television news last night there was a report, as there was in the local paper, about the local hospital, the Great Western Hospital in Swindon, taking the decision to cut back on cleaners. The story is that the Swindon and Marlborough NHS Trust which runs the GWH has declared it’s intention to make savings in the order of £600,000 by cutting down on staff who cook and clean for the hospital. Apparently the bosses at the hospital believe there will be no change in the levels of cleanliness as the remaining staff will work in a more efficient way and some cleaning will be brought back under the control of nurses. I may not understand the processes involved here but I cannot really see that the logic adds up. Less cleaners working more efficiently, nurses cleaning and not nursing! No, sorry, it really doesn’t look like a workable solution, rather another of those plans created solely to save money, not always a bad thing but not if it as the expense of a reduced service.

It doesn’t end here though as apparently infection rates are of concern at the hospital:-

MRSA – the GWH has a target to ensure they have no more than 12 cases for the year. So far this year there have been 14. Target exceeded!

Clostridium Difficile (C Diff) – the GWH has a target of 217 cases for the year. 250 cases have been reported since April. Target exceeded! This “achievement” is apparently slightly worse than average compared to the rest of the country.

I am sure the hospital know that the national publicity has generated a great deal of anxiety about cleanliness and healthcare acquired infections and more people are coming forward when they see something they believe is not being done correctly.

Let’s hope that they now come forward and express their concerns about the proposed cutbacks in cleaning at the GWH. How can the Trust even consider cutting back on the budget for cleaning staff when they still obviously have a problem with the infections that result from an unclean environment?

As is usual with all NHS establishments I am sure the management are always very interested to hear views on what more can be done to improve conditions. So here’s one to start with – think again about cutting back on your cleaning budget at least until you have managed to reduce your infection rate to the targets imposed on you.

It will certainly be interesting to see how the infection rates change if the cuts go ahead.