The Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority - Northern Ireland's health and social care regulator - published the findings of its first round of unannounced hospital hygiene visits last week.

Teams of experts turned up without warning to hospitals in each trust area and inspected a range of clinical areas. They examined the general cleanliness of the fabric of the hospital environment, waste handling and observed hand hygiene practices.

The inspection teams found elements of good practice as well as poor practice in every hospital but most of the problem areas will be resolved through a change in culture within the hospitals.
The inspection team visited the Accident and Emergency Department, Outpatient Department, Medical Ward 1 and Surgical Ward 2 at the Causeway Hospital in June this year and although a number of areas required attention, many areas of the inspection were found to be satisfactory.

The report says that most of the areas of concern raised by the report can be addressed by a change in the culture of the staff, visitors and patients involved to matters of hygiene. They involved issues such as storage of linen and documents to people not always washing their hands.
In regard to the Causeway Hospital the report points out that they carried out their surprise visit first thing on a Monday morning, following the usual hectic weekend activities in the hospital, during which time cleaning staff are at a minimum.

The report recognises that staff are already doing a great job keeping the hospital safe and clean, but, as a result of the report, Causeway have put an action plan in place and most of the issues have already been addressed.

The report says that hygiene has to be everyone's responsibility. Basic hygiene and housekeeping issues must become an integral part of daily work. Without a change in the culture there will be a continued barrier to quality improvement and patient safety.

Coleraine DUP Alderman James McClure has called for hygiene standards at Coleraine's Causeway Hospital to be rigorously enforced if infections such as C Diff and MRSA are to be eradicated.

He said: "I know that in the Coleraine area many people are expressing their genuine fears about the risk of catching infection.
"By their nature hospitals are easily accessible by everyone and we all have a part to play in ensuring we observe hygiene standards when we visit and strictly respect visiting policies."

"The report highlights many instances where standards were not high enough in many areas of the hospital and I hope that we will see a big improvement," said Alderman McClure.