Scotland’s acute hospitals are “generally clean and improving”, according to the first annual report of the Healthcare Environment Inspectorate (HEI). However, more work needs to be done in key areas, most notably in the cleaning of hospital equipment (including commodes and mattresses) and infection control policies being up to date on wards.
The publication of the report coincides with HEI’s announcement that it will strengthen its inspection strategy in its second year with a move towards more unannounced inspections. HEI was established in 2009 to undertake rigorous inspections of every acute hospital in Scotland to help reduce the risk to patients of healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs). In its first year, HEI carried out 36 inspections in 29 acute hospitals in all 14 NHS boards across Scotland. Where required, HEI returned to hospitals to carry out further inspections to ensure that progress was being made.
Overall, HEI issued 172 requirements to acute hospitals and made 168 recommendations between September 2009 and September 2010. The following improvements by NHS boards in Scotland have been noted over the past year:
• Standards of cleanliness in acute hospitals in Scotland are improving.
• Infection rates across Scotland are reducing.
• Positive improvements have been seen when HEI returned to individual hospitals.
• There has been evidence of good practice being passed from one hospital to another in advance of HEI inspections.
• All NHS boards now have action plans setting out their commitment to reducing the risk of infections.
However, the HEI also found: 12 hospitals where practice was poor with regard to staff taking precautions to prevent the spread of infection, 11 hospitals where the policies on the ward were not up to date and 12 hospitals where infection control teams did not communicate effectively with staff and senior management. The inspectorate also found little evidence of effective systems to record and manage maintenance and repairs to hospital buildings and grounds.
