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Care Opinion

No hand gel in ward

Posted By Poppy09

"No hand gel in ward"

About: Ninewells Hospital / Acute Medical Unit (AMU)

(as a relative),

my grandmother was admitted to the acute medical admissions ward at Ninewells hospital Dundee. I visited her one day last week and again the following two days. I was surprised that in the week the Vale of Leven report came out there was no antibacterial hand gel available on the entrance to the ward or at the entrance to the ward bays. So none at all.

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Responses

Response from Nicola Irvine, Consultant in Acute Medicine, Acute Medical Unit, Ninewells Hospital, NHS Tayside 9 years ago
Nicola Irvine
Consultant in Acute Medicine, Acute Medical Unit, Ninewells Hospital,
NHS Tayside

One of a team of senior doctors in the AMU

Submitted on 02/12/2014 at 16:56
Published on Care Opinion on 04/12/2014 at 11:54

Dear Poppy09

Many thanks for taking the time to feedback to us on this important matter. I'm sorry you were unable to find any alcohol hand gel on your visit to our unit. This is normally stored in bright green bottles beside the side of the door at the entrance to each side of the unit (East & West) rather than the main visitor entrance at the visitor waiting area. In comparison with other areas in the hospital this is not very clearly signposted and we will place signs to remind visitors of its location when entering and also to encourage people to approach staff on the unit if there is no readily available facility for hand cleaning as we agree this is vitally important for visitors, staff & patients.

Our domestic staff check these supplies daily when they clean and are normally very diligent in making sure it is always available. I will remind of their important role in this matter.

Within the unit each Bay has a alcohol gel and soap/moisturizer above the sink at the end of the bay. This is also above the sink in each side room and is available for patients, staff & visitors to use. Although the appearance of our alcohol gel is very familiar to staff, once again, this is not very clearly marked for patients or visitors and we will address this at the same time to be sure there is always a clear availability of this on the unit.

I hope this has helped to address your concern raised and once again, thank you for taking the time to feed back for the benefit of our ongoing improvement.

Best wishes

Nicola

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Response from Nicola Irvine, Consultant in Acute Medicine, Acute Medical Unit, Ninewells Hospital, NHS Tayside 8 years ago
We have made a change
Nicola Irvine
Consultant in Acute Medicine, Acute Medical Unit, Ninewells Hospital,
NHS Tayside

One of a team of senior doctors in the AMU

Submitted on 22/05/2015 at 17:51
Published on Care Opinion on 23/05/2015 at 10:13

A month after this was posted we took delivery of new eye-catching posters with clear explanations of the hand gel bottles & where to find them for all visitors to see. These have been placed in several areas as you enter at eye level and next to the gel to highlight the bottles as you enter either side of the unit. These posters also encourage visitors to speak to staff if they find an empty bottle so that we can quickly address this to keep our ward clean and patients safe.

Thank you again for your valuable feedback which has raised awareness of an issue we weren't previously aware of and led to a change for the better

Best wishes

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