Probe: Inspectors who made surprise visit give Caithness General a clean bill of health

An unannounced inspection to Caithness General Hospital confirmed that it was clean and standards were good.

However, the Healthcare Environment Inspectorate (HEI) found that staff could be better at using personal protective equipment.

The HEI inspection team examined NHS Highland’s self-assessment information and then visited the hospital to meet patients and staff, and to inspect wards and departments to assess cleanliness and to check that the hospital meets national standards.

Speaking of the report, Claire Sweeney, interim director of quality assurance for Healthcare Improvement Scotland, said: “This was another positive inspection of Caithness General Hospital. We found that the environment was clean and that hand hygiene compliance was good. However, we found that compliance with personal protective equipment could be improved. We will follow up on this issue at future inspections.”

Nicola Sinclair, of Caithness Health Action Team, said: “This unannounced inspection confirms what Chat and the Caithness community already know: that CGH is clean and efficient.

“Living in a remote rural town we are very lucky to have this fantastic resource on our doorstep, and that’s why we feel it’s essential that NHS Highland reverses this trend of downgrading and bed cuts, and instead invests in what is literally a lifeline for many Caithness patients.”

Alison Hudson, lead nurse for North and West Highland, said: “Verbal feedback on the day was excellent with the public representative from the inspection team commenting that ‘it was one of the cleanest hospitals he had had the pleasure to inspect in the four years he had been a public representative’.”