Two-thirds of hospitals failing cleaning standards

Two-thirds of hospitals are failing to meet the highest standards of cleanliness, the results of spot-checks revealed today.

The Healthcare Commission inspected 99 NHS and private hospitals during unannounced visits to prevent "late clean-up operations".

They found that a third - 33 hospitals - were achieving the highest standards in cleanliness across the board.

But two-thirds of the hospitals visited were not achieving the highest standards, with mental health hospitals performing particularly badly.

The commission chose the hospitals to inspect according to data identifying a selection of apparently poor performers and some good performers.

The inspectors looked at medical equipment, beds, sinks, bedpans and toilets, as well as checking for spillages, blood, general stains and dust.

The results showed that 33 hospitals fell in the top band 1 of the assessment scoring, with cleanliness scores of between 91 per cent and 100 per cent.

A further 43 failed to perform as well and were placed in band 2 - scoring between 71 per cent and 90 per cent - indicating that they had room for improvement.

There were 16 hospitals in band 3 (51-70 per cent) and six in band 4 (50 per cent and below), showing that cleanliness was unsatisfactory for an environment in which clinical care is being provided.

One hospital is not included in the results as it is disputing its score.

The commission said that standards were markedly poorer in NHS mental health hospitals, which made up all six of those which fell in band 4 - indicating serious and widespread problems.

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.

"Among the highest scores were hospitals of all types. This shows that healthcare managers can achieve the highest standards, and all should on behalf of patients."

But he said that the findings showed that too many hospitals were failing to perform as well as they could and some had particularly poor standards of cleanliness.

"Concern about cleanliness has been driven by the prevalence of hospital associated infections and the assumption that poor hygiene is contributing to this.

"If a hospital has dirty and poorly maintained facilities, patients will have little confidence that it can implement the more sophisticated precautions that are needed to prevent infection.

"It is not unreasonable to expect hospitals to aim to be at the higher spectrum of standard on cleanliness.

"Our results suggest that this should be achievable," Mr Gillespie said.

The commission is giving all the hospitals inspected detailed individual results to help them make improvements.

The Health Minister Jane Kennedy said: "This helpful survey looked at 61 of the worst and 10 of the best performers in the NHS and 90 per cent of NHS acute hospitals had high standards of cleanliness or were considered not dirty, suggesting massive improvements.

"Of the 22 hospitals that had serious problems with refurbishment or cleanliness, 18 were in independent or NHS mental health care settings.

"We recently announced £130 million capital funding specifically to update mental health environments and will be announcing further work on enhancing the environment soon.

"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."

The Liberal Democrat health spokesman Steve Webb said: "This report is a wake-up call to a complacent Government that warm words and task forces are not enough to end the scandal of dirty hospitals.

"Basic hygiene is not an optional extra, it should be central to what is expected of every part of the NHS.

"Given the concern about superbugs, it is shocking that such low hygiene standards still exist in some of our hospitals, especially those treating some of the most vulnerable people in society."