Infection warning at hospital - despite positive inspection
Wishaw hospital theatre staff have been warned to store equipment properly to minimise infection.
The call came from Healthcare Improvement Scotland after an unannounced inspection at the hospital in August.
And while the overall report was a positive one, inspectors declared as a high priority that “NHS Lanarkshire must ensure that single use equipment is stored appropriately in the theatre department to minimise the risk of cross-infection”.
The report states: “We saw there was limited storage in the theatre department although the areas we looked at were well organised.
“Sterile instrument trays were stacked on top of each other. We acknowledge that discussions are ongoing about plans to create more space for storage.
“However, the current method of stacking creates a potential risk of contamination or damage to the sterile instruments. We observed staff cleaning the theatre rooms after procedures and between patients.
“We saw that the majority of staff followed best practice for cleaning the environment.”
Inspectors visited a number of other departments in the hospital including the emergency department, labour ward and cardiology.
The report notes that there was a good standard of environmental cleaning in all areas and staff had a good knowledge of the precautions to be taken to reduce the risk of infection.
An area in which the health board could have improved was that drug preparation should be carried out in an environment without the risk of splash contamination. The report added: “All patients spoken with were positive about the standard of cleanliness across the hospital including the wards and bed spaces. They thought their ward environments were clean as well as the toilets and showers. All patients had observed cleaning taking place with any spillages being dealt with promptly.”
The health board welcomed the inspection report, stating it was the best received by acute services in NHS Lanarkshire since the launch of the national HAI Standards in 2015.
Emer Shepherd, head of Infection Prevention and Control, said: “We’re very pleased with this report and it reflects the hard work and commitment of the staff in University Hospital Wishaw.
“The inspectors reported that all staff spoken to demonstrated good working knowledge of infection prevention and control policies, procedures and guidance and the hospital environment.
“As part of our continual improvement plan, we had already started work prior to the inspection in relation to the three requirements and two recommendations highlighted within the report.”