"Cleanliness concerns at Pendlebury Hospital"

My child was in Wrigley ward at Pendlebury Hospital in Manchester. The staff and general organisation was all ok or average/good but the cleanliness and tidiness was terrible. The only thing I saw to clean anything or anywhere was tubs of Azzowipes or other brand names. (This includes the commode with urine and faeces marks on it and this is on a urology ward!). Basically these are 70% alcohol wipes which disinfect a bit and they are no substitute for hot soapy water. This is like only ever using the alcohol hand gel and never washing hands - not an acceptable way of preventing cross infection. Upon spillage of urine one day a sister declared that she did not know what to do! This said it all! On discharge, a whole bed and locker is flicked over with these. I never saw a mattress turned nor the cot sides wiped. I am an ex-nurse and remember using a bucket of water and hospec, tidying and moving rubbish first, wiping everything inside and out and then drying with blue paper roll to then make up a clean bed/cot. The only part of clean here was the sheets. We visited 5 different beds in our journey and each one held sticky marks, or crumbs, or broken crayons, or toys, or sweets on the floor, or electric leads from monitors hanging from plugs, or broken patientline tv's, or dirty chairs. I took my own pack of wipes the second time. I never saw a nurse wash their hands once in the whole journey and only saw one use the hand gel once. They are very good with their Dinamaps but don't seem to get their hands dirty. I know that MRSA and other bugs are rife and difficult, but they are practically invited into this ward. It was all I could do to not put on an apron and get a bucket. Infection rates must be high and I can’t see them improving whilst care and treatment are carried out in this environment.