Sheffield Community Health shamed on hygiene

[pattricia]

they are not obliged to move the objects from your table to clean. If you read the patient information book, in each locker, it advises you are expected to move your things to permit cleaning. If the cleaners had to move everything from a bed table and locker to clean, for evey bed, on a 32 bed ward, an already cut back resource would be even less effective as they would not then not have time to do other time consuming jobs like changing curtains around beds etc.

 

 

harsh comment?, it was a serious alternative to being in a dirty cubicle! and as to why this situation occurs: Main reasons are not enough funding and to much demand.

 

Well they used to years ago, when I was a nurse. They only have to move them slightly to one side, clean, then move back again.

[Womerry2]

So are the funding arrangements different for the Hallamshire/Childrens (calm, competent, reassuring, excellent care) and the Northern (in my experience and excepting the Burns unit: filthy, rude, arrogant, confrontational, leaving patients very distressed indeed)?

Or could the marked differences be down to staff attitudes?

[pattricia]

So are the funding arrangements different for the Hallamshire/Childrens (calm, competent, reassuring, excellent care) and the Northern (in my experience and excepting the Burns unit: filthy, rude, arrogant, confrontational, leaving patients very distressed indeed)?

Or could the marked differences be down to staff attitudes?

 

I believe it is because The Hallamshire is a " Teaching Hospital".

[Ned Ludd]

are you discussing A&E?

debris on the cubicle floors is often left behind by the heathens that dont have the good manners to deposit it in a bin. relatives are the prime culprits

In this case I'm talking about wrappings related to treatment not lager cans left by scrotes

 

staff talking at the station...so what?, they have to discuss patient care, arrange tests, hand over and sort out transfers to wards etc

As they didn't gorm me I had plenty of time to hear that it was plainly a social interaction

 

waiting for pain releif may be because it cant just be given willy-nilly, especially in A&E, it has to be prescribed by a doctor, in writing first and certain pain relief has to be attained and checked by two staff members before it can be given.

Ah, that's why it took two and a half hours.

I can't reveal the nature of the ex-nurses indifferent treatment but the response to his complaint was quite revealing once he revealed his former profession

 

The point is thousands die each year of infections contracted in hospital and thousands more are maimed for life. In this situation stained, grubby drapes and debris on the floor are not re-assuring

 

I'm well acquainted with the result of Thatcher's, Major's and Blair's efficiency drives and privatisations and then the chaos caused by drunks in hospitals, especially at weekends. That's another subject or two

[Mrs Hyde]

I was in the A&E at the Northern a few weeks ago.

The drapes around the cubicles were stained and grubby looking.

I was astonished to see so much debris on the cubicle floors including what appeared to be a gauze square with spots of blood on it.

I also observed on one occasion 5 members of staff (various) standing chatting around the "nurses' station"

I also observed that it took ages for my wife to be provided with pain relief and that another patient waited for a very long time to have a certain matter "put right" When the said patient pointed out he was an ex-nurse and was not impressed with the standard of care, the cocky *** in attendance cahnged his demenour completely in a Uriah Heap-type manner

Not very impressed!

 

Have to say the senior nurse in the attached (admittedly quieter) "Clinical Management Unit" was absolutely brilliant and the whole area spotless too

 

Right so its not the hospital as a whole just different departments, would it make a difference if patients complained? i attend Chesterfield Royal, very very clean, wards closed off for any infections, if one can do it why not all?

[BlackVelvet]

So are the funding arrangements different for the Hallamshire/Childrens (calm, competent, reassuring, excellent care) and the Northern (in my experience and excepting the Burns unit: filthy, rude, arrogant, confrontational, leaving patients very distressed indeed)?

Or could the marked differences be down to staff attitudes?

 

there is a defined difference between the PATIENTS using NGH, and the other two mentioned. excepting the childrens here, as it is a childrens hospital, and just comparing the other two: the NGH has to accept anything walking through the doors of A&E, the hallamshires addmissions are to a degree, policed, by not having an A&E, where anyone can wander in and they are on decidely different sides of town in terms of the areas they serve for planned/referred admissions too. you only have to take a wander around the vickers wards of NGH to see what i mean by this. Granted this should not make a difference to staff attitude, but guess its hard to be all sweetness and light when confronted by rude, uncouth drug users and general lowlife as compared to nice middle class planned admissions

[Becky B]

I hate to put a dampener on things, but it's actually the Primary Care Trust that failed to reach the hygiene standards, not the hospitals.

 

 

 

I believe it is because The Hallamshire is a " Teaching Hospital".

 

Both the Northern and the Hallamshire are teaching hospitals, they're both part of the same trust (they merged about 6 years ago).

[Krissyc]

I've noticed that nearly every time a topic like this comes up, someone tells of how the cleaners didn't clear the top of their locker to clean it. I just wanted to say that 10 years ago I worked briefly as a cleaner in a hospital in Newcastle and we were told not to touch anything at all belonging to a patient so that we couldn't be accused of stealing anything - apparently there had been many many cases of patients claiming cleaners had stolen money or jewellery (that never existed) and demanding that the hospital replaced it. It may be that cleaners are still not allowed to move patients' belongings for the same reasons.

 

I've been to the NGH several times in recent years with a friend who's been ill and I have to say that it's always been as clean as (or cleaner than) you could reasonably expect a hospital of its age to be.

[granda-grunt]

i was discharged from the ngh on friday and was also told i had mrsa for which i was prescribed a body wash and nasal cream the staff didnt seem that concerned totally agree about lack of cleaning my oh had to wipe up blood spilt by one doctor totally disgusted but what choice does one have if you need emergency treatment

[angle20]

On the other side of the argument, a nurse from West Yorkshire on the radio earlier today argued that the public also need to play their part in combating infection. She described seeing a crowd of people waiting for the start of visiting time who then all steamed past the hand rubbing procedure. Maybe a member of staff needs to stand over visitors to enforce this?

 

Another issue is whether staff should be able to travel to/from work in their uniforms.

 

More generally, the rise in infections is likely to be a negative by-product of the higher turnover of patients arising from the laudable drive to get down waiting times.