Scotland’s ambulances do not have adequate measures in place to prevent the spread of infection, a new report has warned.
The Healthcare Inspection Scotland report, published on Wednesday, found there are “no robust” governance arrangements in place to prevent infections and told the Scottish Ambulance Service to introduce changes to hygiene procedures “as a matter of priority.”
The report was completed after spot visits to seven ambulance stations last month, including Perth. There, inspectors found there was only one sink available to clean vehicles and for crews to wash their hands.
Perth ambulance station was also one of four inspected where vehicles carried multiple items of out-of-date sterile stock.
Although the report said the overall standard of cleanliness in Scottish ambulances is good, it made 15 recommendations about how standards can be improved.
Chief inspector Susan Brimelow said, “Our inspection team found that the overall standard of cleanliness of the ambulance vehicles was good but we were not assured that infection control services are fully embedded into all aspects of the … service. In particular we found poor communication between the infection control team and operational staff and that the role of the infection control manager does not comply with national guidance.
“We expect the Scottish Ambulance Service to address these requirements as a matter of priority.”
A spokesman for the service said, “We are pleased that the report recognises that the overall standard of cleanliness of ambulances is good and that operational staff are well aware of their responsibilities in relation to infection control.
“With around 900 ambulances operating from over 150 stations across Scotland, control of infection is of the highest priority across all of our operations.
“The recommendations and requirements of the report are currently being implemented and we are determined to continue to develop our practices to build on the improvements that have been achieved so far.”