Staff at Kirkcaldy’s Victoria Hospital have been told to wash their hands more often to reduce the risk of infection.
The Healthcare Environment Inspectorate (HEI) made the assertion after carrying out an unannounced inspection of the hospital on April 20.
While a report detailing the HEI findings revealed Victoria Hospital was generally clean and hygienic, there were some areas identified for improvement with staff hand hygiene compliance a key area.
Inspectors toured wards 10 (orthopaedics), 11 (care of the elderly), 12 (stroke), 15 (cardiology) and 16 (respiratory) and pinpointed strengths including support for senior charge nurses from hospital management and involvement of the public in infection control.
However, improvement is needed in staff compliance with hand hygiene, while NHS Fife has been urged to carry out risk assessment for patients in isolation rooms who require to have the door to their room open.
Chief inspector Susan Brimelow said, “Overall, we found that NHS Fife is working towards complying with healthcare-associated infection standards to protect patients, staff and visitors from the risk of acquiring an infection.
“Our inspection highlighted a number of areas of good practice including good involvement of the public in infection control activities.”
She added, “We expect that all requirements and recommendations will be addressed by NHS Fife, and the necessary improvements made, as a matter of priority.”
Inspectors commended staff on wards 10 and 12 for their system in which mattresses were unzipped and checked daily as linen is changed.
Victoria Hospital was said to be “generally clean” on the day of inspection. However, cleaning hard-to-reach areas such as floor edgings, undercarriage of beds, blinds and curtain rails could be improved.WashingOn ward 10 a doctor was seen not practising hand hygiene and a nurse did not wash their hands after taking blood samples, while on ward 11 staff were seen moving between dirty and clean tasks without washing their hands.
The inspection team also observed that it was often difficult to reach sinks as bins were in front of them, especially in sluice areas.
Inspectors observed staff leaning over waste bins to wash their hands when they had finished dirty tasks, such as changing bed linen.
The report also suggested standard infection control precautions for patients requiring isolation should be tightened.
Guidelines state doors to isolation rooms should remain closed, but on ward 12 the team observed two isolation rooms both containing patients with infections with doors open.
A staff member also confirmed that it would be common practice to leave the door open, although there was no evidence of a risk assessment to support this.
The inspection team also observed staff not changing protective equipment worn to prevent the spread of infection between patients and tasks.
John Wilson, chief executive of NHS Fife’s operational division, said, “An action plan has already been drawn up, based upon the verbal feedback we received from the inspectors on the day of the visit, and we have been able to make good progress against this in the intervening period.”