NHS trusts 'failing to maintain hygiene standards'

A quarter of NHS trusts in England are failing to maintain standards of cleanliness, a report by the Healthcare Commission has revealed.

The report asked trusts to self-declare how they measured up to government core standards on care. The Healthcare Commission found that 99 trusts out of 394 did not comply with one or more of the three standards relating to hygiene.

Fourteen per cent of trusts admitted that they had failed on reducing the risk of infection, such as properly decontaminating reusable medical devices, such as surgical instruments.

Eleven per cent also admitted that they did not meet the standard pertaining to cleanliness and buildings being in good order.

However, the report did find that the number of trusts reporting that they met all the 24 core standards rose to 40%, from 34% last year.

Healthcare Commission experts will now carry out spot checks on around one in five NHS trusts in England to see if the findings match the data delivered by the trusts.

Liberal Democrat health spokesperson Norman Lamb said: "It is wholly unacceptable that one in four hospitals are still failing to meet required hygiene standards. There has to be cultural change within hospitals. Three-quarters of hospital are successfully implementing effective measures - there is no excuse for others not to follow.

"There has to be a zero tolerance approach to tackling superbugs. It is shocking that after countless government initiatives the number of hospitals failing to protect patients from these infections has doubled.

"Hospital staff should treat failure to comply with hygiene standards as a very serious issue, akin to gross misconduct. Disciplinary action may be required to ensure standards are met and lives are saved."

(KMcA/JM)