Patient’s anger at ‘disgusting’ hospital shower room
A HOSPITAL fell “well below the standard” last month when clumps of hair and blood spots were found in a shower room on one of the wards.
Footage has emerged showing clumps of hair, blood and a blocked drain in a shower room on Ogwen Ward at Ysbyty Gwynedd in Bangor.
Images were taken of the washroom on January 30 and February 2 showing the hair and blood had been there for three days.
Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB) have now apologised for the standards of the facilities, but maintain cleaning is carried out on the ward three times each day.
A patient who took the footage said: “The clumps of hair and blood marks were there on the Monday, and they were still there on the Thursday.
“At first I thought I’d gone in the shower after someone had washed their hair but it quickly became obvious that the cleaners just weren’t cleaning the washroom.
“On the fourth day the water had only been running for a few minutes when I had to turn it off because it was starting to flood out on to the ward corridor.
“When I came out a young girl was trying to mop up the water and I asked her how often the shower rooms were cleaned but she said she didn’t know.
“Another woman then approached me and told me they were going to have to stop people using that shower because apparently I had blocked the drain!
“I told her the clumps of hair, blood and drains had been like that for three days. She told me the cleaners clean them every day, but this obviously isn’t the case.
“I know the NHS are stretched, but this isn’t anything to do with that, the cleaners should still be doing their jobs regardless. It’s a hospital ward, not a bus shelter, there shouldn’t be spots of blood and clumps of hair left for days, it’s unhygienic and it’s disgusting.
“I was also given a mug of tomato soup with the previous days leek and potato soup crusted around the rim, it’s sickening.”
A BCUHB spokesman said: “We apologise for the standard of cleanliness demonstrated in the images, which fall well below the standards we expect on our wards.
“Cleaning is carried out on the ward three times each day and regular audits of cleaning standards are carried out using a national scoring system.
“Ogwen Ward regularly scores highly, and we were extremely surprised that such a failing has been reported, as this is not a ward we have had any previous concerns about.
“Upon being notified of the images, our Head of Nursing carried out an immediate check on the ward and can confirm that there was a high standard of cleanliness.
“We are therefore unclear as to how this situation could have persisted over an extended period.
“Our records also show that a problem with the drainage from the shower was reported to our estates department on the 2 February and was attended to on the same day.
“Food is delivered to the wards in heated trolleys to ensure that food is served hot to our patients.
“We suspect that the mug pictured may have come into contact with food during its journey from the kitchen and this food had then become dried out inside the hot cabinet.
“However, we acknowledge the mug should not have been served to the patient in this state.
“We encourage any patient who notes that an area requires cleaning to raise this with a member of the ward staff so that it can be attended to, and we would be happy to meet with the patient who has raised these concerns so that we can look into them in more detail.”