Significantly more patients have rated their hospital wards and bathrooms as “very clean” and more have noticed doctors and nurses washing their hands between patients, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) has revealed, following its national inpatient survey.
Participating were over 72,000 people who stayed at least one night in a hospital during summer 2008. The 2008 survey results overall show significant improvement in the experience of patients in key areas relating to infection control. But the survey highlights persistent problems in important aspects of care. Despite some improvements, the NHS must do more to ensure hospital food is consistently of good quality and that patients are sent copies of letters between hospitals and GPs. Performance remained poor in other key areas such as help with eating, mixed-sex accommodation, involvement in decisions about care and answering call buttons. Cynthia Bower, CQC chief executive, said: “It’s great to see patients noticing improvements in cleanliness and hand washing. There are now real signs that the NHS is beginning to get to grips with infection control – it’s important that Trusts keep the momentum going. Our survey of NHS staff suggests important improvements in this area and our inspectors say more Trusts have infection control systems in place. Critically, rates of MRSA and Clostridium difficile are now falling. “However, patients are clearly highlighting some persistent problems, in particular in some of the basics of care such as help with eating and involvement in decisions. It is a great shame that the NHS has not managed to get a stronger grip on these issues when patients have been highlighting them for so long. As the regulator, we will be doing more to ensure people’s views have more clout.”
