"AMU Shocking state of poor hygiene"

Thank you for the feedback you have given us regarding your mothers care whilst on the Acute Medical Unit (AMU). It is disappointing to know that your mother’s room was not cleaned for a number of days as there are 2 allocated Sodexo Domestic staff who clean the unit including the side rooms on daily basis. The information that you have provided has been shared with the Sodexo supervisor and the AMU Matron has commenced a clean walk round on daily basis, where she monitors all the areas on AMU for cleanliness and ensures that the domestic staff respond to action any issues immediately. Maintaining a good standard of cleanliness is paramount in our hospital and we strive to ensure that AMU is kept clean at all times. We are very sorry that the cleanliness fell below the standard we aim to achieve on this occasion.

The staff at the Trust endeavour to ensure that all patients are treated with privacy and dignity at all the times. We are extremely sorry to learn that your mother was not assisted with her hygiene needs and that her privacy and dignity was not maintained. All the staff on AMU are aware of the importance of good communication and standards of care and should always strive to achieve this. The staff on AMU attend ‘Customer Service Training’ as part of their continual development. Within the Trust we also provide dedicated training sessions for staff in all areas and all disciplines in relation to the values and behaviours that the Trust expects staff to demonstrate in each and every interaction with patients. I can confirm that all the staff are undertaking this training. In order to support staff awareness and to monitor standards of care on AMU, it is supported by a dedicated Matron who monitors closely the care that is being delivered. Your concerns have been shared with all the staff in the ward at the ward meeting the importance of basic personal hygiene and maintenance of privacy and dignity has been re-iterated. In respect of agency personnel it is our expectation that they are appropriately inducted and supervised by the ward team. It is unacceptable that any member of staff, agency or otherwise, delivered care that fell way below our expected standards.

We are also very sorry to hear that the room your mother was in was very cold. The air conditioning temperature on the unit changes from time to time and it should be reported immediately if the temperature is not appropriate for the patients. We have re-iterated to the unit housekeeper and rest of the staff to check room temperatures on regular basis and report it if the temperature is not appropriate.

Your comment also highlighted a concern regarding the information given to you in regards to the tap water. I can assure you that there are now signs on display by all the sinks instructing staff to fill the water jugs in the kitchen. We would like to apologise for the distress this experience has caused both your mother and yourself.

We hope that you can be reassured your concerns have been taken most seriously, and that they have been communicated to the nursing team on AMU, actions have been put in place to ensure that we maintain improvements in care on the unit.

If you would like to discuss any of your concerns in more detail, please feel free to contact our Patient Advice and Liaison Service on 0161 276 8686 or by e-mailing pals@cmft.nhs.uk