Inspections prompt cleanliness challenge

Inspectors visited 99 NHS and private hospitals between July and September 2005, arriving unannounced to prevent a late clean up operation. They found a third of the hospitals visited achieving the highest standards in cleanliness across the board. But two-thirds were not, with mental health hospitals performing particularly poorly out of those in the sample.

Simon Gillespie, head of operations at the Healthcare Commission, said: “We have found some excellent performance. It is a myth to say all our hospitals are dirty. Nevertheless, the findings show that too many hospitals are failing to perform as well as they could. And some have particularly poor standards of cleanliness.”

In response to the findings, Health Minister Jane Kennedy said: “We will work alongside the Healthcare Commission, the Mental Health Act Commission and the National Patient Safety Agency to rectify poor standards where they are found, and to progress a programme of work specifically directed at improving cleanliness in mental health settings.”