"Infection control"

Thank you for taking the time to provide feedback on your experience at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham. We welcome all feedback and would like to assure you that all comments are taken seriously and acted upon as part of our ongoing commitment to improving patient experience. We are very sorry for the delay in responding to your concerns about cleanliness and potential infection risks relating to the lifts and public areas. Your comments were forwarded to the senior staff members responsible for cleanliness and infection control. Their responses are below: Response provided by: Operational Director – Corporate Nursing “I am sorry you felt the standards of cleaning in the public areas in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham were not to a standard you felt acceptable. These areas are subject to a very high footfall but are cleaned each day and are subject to audit by an independent team. We have revisited these areas since your comments and will continue to monitor this, these are not clinical areas and regimes for clinical areas are different and our Infection Control emphasis is at ‘point of care’ which ensures any clinical intervention is carried out in a safe environment. Response provided by Director - Infection Prevention and Control “I am not aware of any evidence that the environment in lifts poses a particular infection risk. There is more risk from catching a viral infection from someone else in the lift. However if we think our patients either pose or are at particular risk of infection we tend to keep them in source or protective isolation while in hospital” We hope this information provides reassurance regarding cleanliness and infection control measures that are in place. If you have any further concerns, or would like to discuss these issues further please make contact via our Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS). PALS can be contacted by phone 0121 371 3280, by email PALS@uhb.nhs.uk , via the hospital website http://www.uhb.nhs.uk/pals-form.htm or in person by dropping in between 9am – 4.30pm (Mon-Fri) to the PALS office located to the left of the Information Desk in the main entrance of the new Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham. Thank you again for taking the trouble to post your comments on the NHS Choices website.