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 HEI 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.
