No new action is called for at The Western General Hospital in Edinburgh which has been inspected on an unannounced basis for the second time in a year.
The Healthcare Environment Inspectorate has just published its report on their most recent visit in May which requires no new action and has noted progress with the points raised in its last report.
In November the cleanliness in patient areas and the standard of cleanliness of patient equipment was assessed as poor. The inspection report contains a photo of an inspector’s hand which had collected dust from the fans above patients’ beds.
There were some fairly elementary failings at the hospital including the lack of alcohol based hand rub in some wards. The inspectors mentioned that some beds were so close to each other they were touching. They also questioned staff about the correct way to deal with blood spillages and found that the majority were unsure of the correct procedure.
The earlier (also unannounced) inspection in November 2014 resulted in the HEI setting out eight recommendations or requirements for action by NHS Lothian. The inspectorate has found no new requirements and reports that the hospital has met six of their earlier points of action and partially met the other two.
(We note in the report that despite the fact that much of the work is to stop cross-infection among patients that some of the action plan is discussed and put into effect at what is known as ward safety ‘huddles’. Presumably all taking part now wash their hands with the new alcohol-based rub first!)
The Western General has 570 beds and is the regional centre for cancer treatment for the South East of Scotland. It also has a clinical neuroscience department for patients from across Scotland.
You can read the new report here.
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