A hospital trust has pledged to maintain its commitment to upholding excellent standards of cleanliness. Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust said it has improved cleanliness and hygiene as part of its annual self-assessment for health watchdog the Care Quality Commission, reports the Herald. A spokesperson for the trust said Derriford Hospital in Plymouth has shown drastic improvement within the last 12 months, when it was found to be falling short of five standards.
The trust is now compliant with all 42 of the government’s Standards for Better Health, as of October 31st this year. A new cleaning company has been contracted to maintain standards of cleanliness across the hospital’s wards and the trust has invested up to £600,000 more per year to safeguard patients’ health, improve catering and continue its compliance with regulations set out by Care Quality Commission.
The hospital also said it has improved its training of staff in order to keep children safe on wards. In July 2008 and in February this year, Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust failed hygiene inspections in a number of crucial areas including cleanliness and infection control, decontamination of re-usable medical devices, staff training in child protection and “well-designed, maintained environments”.
