NHS Lanarkshire reported to Scottish government over repeated hygiene failures

The Healthcare Environment Inspectorate (HEI) has reported NHS Lanarkshire to the Scottish government over its repeated failures to meet hygiene standards at one of its hospitals.

Numerous pieces of equipment were found to be covered in blood or bodily fluids on two different unannounced inspections by the HEI at Hairmyres Hospital in East Kilbride, South Lanarkshire.

The first inspection, on 16 and 17 September raised significant concerns and the HEI requested senior board managers to take immediate action and produce an improvement action plan. As well as unclean equipment inspectors found "significant amounts of dust and grime" in several areas of the hospital.

Inspectors returned unannounced on 3 October to check on progress, and while improvements had been made they still found problems with the cleanliness of equipment and environment.

They again found patient equipment contaminated with blood and body fluids, including four patient trolleys and a bed frame as well as five commodes which were tagged as clean. The standard of environmental cleaning in the wards and departments had improved, however faecal contamination to the panels at the back of two communal toilets and on one toilet wall, and faecal contamination on the nurse call bell beside a toilet was found.

Susan Brimelow, HEI chief inspector, said: “I am extremely disappointed by the findings from this inspection. During inspection on 16 and 17 September, we found patient equipment which was not clean, and a poor standard of environmental cleanliness in all wards and departments inspected.

“We escalated our concerns to senior management on 17 September and requested that immediate action to be taken to minimise the risk of infection. We also asked NHS Lanarkshire to produce an improvement action plan to show how these issues would be rectified.

“On Friday 3 October, we returned unannounced, to ensure improvements had been made and to assess progress with the improvement action plan. Although we saw some areas of improvement, issues with the cleanliness of patient equipment and the environment remained.

“Due to the serious nature of our findings, I escalated my concerns to Scottish Government. We will continue to inspect Hairmyres Hospital to ensure that improvements are made, as every patient coming into hospital should expect their local hospital to be safe and clean.”

NHS Lanarkshire said that it is already making “substantial improvements” following the HEI visits to Hairmyres Hospital.

Chief executive Ian Ross said: “We are sorry that we fell below our own high standards of cleanliness of patient equipment and the environment at Hairmyres Hospital.

“We have acted swiftly to put in place a comprehensive action plan to address these issues. This includes making our systems more robust so there is assurance that patient equipment is clean and ready to use. 

“We are also putting in place a system of firm supervision to monitor cleaning tasks giving us full confidence that our wards and departments are meeting a high standard of environmental cleanliness.

“I want to reassure patients and visitors that we have already made substantial improvements at Hairmyres Hospital following the HEI visits. Further progress against our action plan will be closely monitored by the NHS Lanarkshire Board which is committed to ensuring all our hospitals provide a safe and clean environment.”

(Image: Hairmyres Hospital A&E Department, c. Ross Watson)

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