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My recent stay in hospital.

Posted By chrizza

"My recent stay in hospital."

About: Derriford Hospital / Older people's healthcare

(as the patient),

I was admitted as an emergency and was put on a geriatric ward because there was a bed available there, even though I am only 68.

The toilet on the ward was not adequate. It was not big enough for a nurse to accompany the patient nor could it accommodate a large enough waste bin. Many of the patients were using incontinence pads and were leaving soiled pads on top of the bin.

Whenever I pointed out the state of the toilet to staff, it was cleaned immediately. However, regular cleaning of the toilet was only 3 times a day. Toilet cleaning on a geriatric ward needs to be done more often than every 8 hours! Many of the patients were also suffering from dementia and were not hygiene aware.

I also noticed that the porters did not use the sanitising gel when entering the ward. I had experience of 4 different porters and none of them used the gel, nor did they stop so that I could use the gel. Porters touch many rails, handles and surfaces as they go from ward to ward, so I think they should be required to use the gel.

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Responses

Response from Mary Anderson, Senior Quality Facilitator, University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust 10 years ago
Mary Anderson
Senior Quality Facilitator,
University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust

Submitted on 10/06/2013 at 17:07
Published on Care Opinion at 19:21

Dear Chrizza

Thank you for your feedback to Patient Opinion and I am sorry that your recent stay on one of the wards at the hospital left you with some concerns in relation to the toilet facilities and the cleaning routines. I will ensure that the Matron for the Unit is made aware of your feedback. Thank you for raising this concern with us.

I will also contact the teams who oversee Portering Services at the Trust to ensure they remind all of their staff that use of the hand gel is obligatory.

I am sorry that elements of your stay at the Trust were not of an acceptable standard.

Kind regards

Mary

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Response from Mary Anderson, Senior Quality Facilitator, University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust 10 years ago
Mary Anderson
Senior Quality Facilitator,
University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust

Submitted on 12/06/2013 at 09:42
Published on Care Opinion at 14:30

Dear Chrizza

Further to my previous e-mail, I have received confirmation from the Service Improvement Lead in Clinical Support Services that he has spoken to the porters and their supervisory staff regarding your concerns about the use of hand gel. He has reiterated that it is crucial for all staff to follow hand cleansing procedures whenever entering or exiting wards on all occasions.

Your message was also forwarded to the Serco team who manage the general portering team.

We all appreciate you raising these concerns.

Kind regards

Mary

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Response from Mary Anderson, Senior Quality Facilitator, University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust 10 years ago
We have made a change
Mary Anderson
Senior Quality Facilitator,
University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust

Submitted on 27/06/2013 at 11:40
Published on Care Opinion at 11:41

Dear Chrizz

Regarding your recent posting, I have received another update on progress on the issue of hand hygiene on entering/leaving wards and departments. I have received confirmation from the Serco team at Derriford Hospital to confirm that all Serco porters will be receiving instruction regarding the importance of hand washing, which will be supported by the infection control team. The portering staff will also receive a glow box training session to demonstrate the effectiveness of hand-cleansing.

Kind regards

Mary

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