Warning notice exerts pressure on hospitals trust
HILLINGDON Hospital has been given a further warning notice to improve its emergency department after a follow-up visit from healthcare inspectors.
The Pield Heath Road site has been under close scrutiny after it confirmed a coronavirus outbreak among staff in July, prompting the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to investigate the hospital’s infection control. Inspectors first visited on August 4 and 5, which resulted in urgent enforcement powers being used to force the hospital to carry out safety improvements.
They returned on September 29 and 30 in an unannounced visit. In a report of its findings, published on Friday, the CQC said it has handed a further warning notice to The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the site.
While inspectors found improvements had been made, such as more effective use of Personal Protective Equipment, the report explained that they took the action to address other risks that were found and to keep pressure on the trust to drive up standards.
The CQC’s deputy chief inspector of hospitals, Nigel Acheson, said: “In August we took action to drive improvement in infection control practices in the emergency department and the wider trust by imposing urgent conditions. The trust leadership have provided an action plan and regular updates on how this is progressing.
“We did, however, identify new risks at this inspection and, as a result, we issued the trust with a further warning notice.
“This is to ensure they continue to concentrate on the improvements needed and ensure they are thoroughly embedded and able to be sustained.”
According to the report, there was good practice at the emergency department’s front door with people using face masks and hand sanitiser before entering, compared to the August visit where they found patients queuing in the corridor and not socially distancing.
Stricter rules were also recorded to be in place at the education centre, where it is believed coronavirus spread among staff during a study day at the end of June.
During the visit, however, inspectors flagged a risk of cross-contamination from staff wearing clean and dirty scrubs and using the same two toilets to change at the beginning and end of shifts, due to lack of changing areas. The hospital’s management said there were plans to introduce ‘changing pods’.
Infection prevention and training rates for all medical and other clinical staff, inspectors said, had not improved since the August visit with a 70% compliance, compared to the trust’s target of 90%.
However the watchdog found hospital staff had started using ‘I am clean’ stickers for equipment that had been cleaned and ready to use, and generally noted the department was “generally clean and dirt free”.
A spokesman for The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: “As the CQC recognises, we have already made several improvements to infection prevention control since September, and staff are continuing to strengthen the measures that are in place.”