"BUPA Wellesley Hospital Southend"

I was recently a patient at this hospital and became concerned at the level of cleanliness. On admission I had to remove debris from the previous occupant from the sink in the en-suite. The bath had several hairs from the previous occupant in it. I observed the room opposite mine being prepared for the next patient after the departure of the previous one. The cleaners did not clean the bed and mattress before putting on the clean linen, merely put clean linen on it. The rooms had carpet on the floors. I was told that there had never been a case of MRSA as the hospital, but feel that carpets are not the most hygenic covering for floors in a hospital. I went into hospital with new slippers and the underneath of these were black by the time I came home. Only one nurse used the alcohol wipes when she came into my room after being in an adjoining room. While it may be that the hospital has a good record for infection control, constant vigilance is needed to maintain high standards. I heard the cleaners talking as they worked, and they were obviously stressed and had to complete a certain amount of work before they could leave. They would enter my room in the morning with a damp cloth which I assumed had been used in the room they had just come from. I would have thought spot checking and swab taking after cleaning would be a prerequisite in any hospital to monitor the effectiveness of the cleaning procedures and highlight any areas which need attention. BUPA responds: ------------------------ BUPA Hospitals takes cleanliness very seriously and we would like to thank this patient for bringing their concerns to our attention. The issues have been passed to the hospital's General Manager who is investigating and reviewing our cleaning processes to ensure guidelines are being followed, including those on cleaning beds. BUPA will also increase the number of spot checks undertaken by senior management until we are satisfied that standards are being consistently achieved. All our housekeeping staff receive full training on all aspects of cleanliness, which is overseen by the Infection Control team in each of our hospitals. A national clinical team carries out regular unannounced visits to hospitals - assessment of cleanliness forms part of the visits and we will take specific note of the issues raised in this complaint. We will extend the assessments in 2006 to include a specific infection control audit. Whilst carpets provide a more comfortable environment, we recognise the concerns our patient has raised and are asking an independent expert in infection control to review the professional literature on this issue and to advise us. We have a Consultant Microbiologist who advises our Infection Control Liaison Nurses and investigates any issues or concerns which are raised by patients, staff or doctors. BUPA Hospitals follow the guidelines set out by the Joint Working Party of the British Society of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, the Hospital Infection Society and Infection Control Nurses Association July 2005. We have not had any cases of MRSA in this hospital. We publish patients' views about our individual hospitals on our website - which includes issues such as general cleanliness: http://www.bupahospitals.co.uk/asp/patientcare/satisfaction.asp The majority of our patients surveyed from last year rated the levels of cleanliness in our hospitals as "excellent". Jan Clement Head of Clinical Services BUPA Hospitals