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Challenge hospital staff about handwashing
5:23am Tuesday 8th April 2008
Comments (23)PEOPLE concerned about hospital cleanliness are being urged to challenge health workers on whether they have washed their hands.
Andrew Pike, chief executive of South East Essex Primary Care Trust, said huge efforts were being made to reduce the spread of the infections MRSA and C.Diff at Southend Hospital.
Mr Pike said: "The best way to reduce infections is strict adherence to good basic clinical practice, with hand washing being the most important.
"We would encourage people using health services to question any healthcare worker, whether in hospital or the community, if they have washed their hands.
"We also ask that visitors to the hospital wash their hands and do not attend the hospital if they are suffering from coughs, colds or other infections."
Your Say YourEcho
ShipShape, Basildonk says...
5:00pm Tue 8 Apr 08
ken, Langdon Hill says...
7:25pm Tue 8 Apr 08
they said they have never seen so many people checking for dirt.I would also agree with the comments above as we report many care issues and
did not get a very nice response.we have since found out these wards failed to meet acceptable standards. We were in and out the
hospital a lot and never see the hospital
cleaners on the wards. The only level that we did see cleaned was the main level. My Dad died last year in Basildon Hospital. We had many issues with the care he was given and this included catching c-diff because of the dirty wards. He had been on three wards and all needed a good clean. It was obvious looking around that the wards, the corridors and kitchen areas were not being kept clean. This is not something that has just occurred but is an ongoing issue that the hospital have not done enough to address.
How many people have died because of the condition of the hospital and the lack of proper care; maybe the Echo should do an in depth story on this problem to highlight the risk to everyone.
Angela Smith should be doing more to address this instead of praising the management on their enthusiasm. She was previously reported as saying that the high death rate in Basildon Hospital was due to the number of elderly people being treated. In our experience it is more likely related to the poor treatment and condition of the facility.
ROY, essex says...
8:15pm Tue 8 Apr 08
My mum died of C.diff in an Essex hospital. I know of several more deaths and sufferers
It was hard enough to get the staff to wash the poo off my mums legs or get them to empty the commode let alone dare to challenge them about washing their hands!
Say anything to them and after you leave they bully the patient to stop it happening again.
Bring back the real matron, And give the matron the power to send home incompetent staff!
Lucy, says...
8:19pm Tue 8 Apr 08
concerned parent, local says...
8:23pm Tue 8 Apr 08
patient, pitsea says...
9:39pm Tue 8 Apr 08
But the only good thing i can say is that the nurses and doctors are fantastic they were informative and atentive, kind and caring.
Ju, southend says...
11:49am Wed 9 Apr 08
APR, Benfleet says...
12:51pm Wed 9 Apr 08
concerned parent wrote:I've heard a lot of people say this.
my son recently had an operation at southend in the childrens ward and i watched the doctor go from patient to patient 5 times and never once wash his hands
Perhaps doctors think they are "above" washing their hands.
n, south woodham says...
3:01pm Wed 9 Apr 08
patient wrote:'i watched doctors go with 3 different patients and not wash there hands'
I came out of hospital a few days ago after spendind the night on the medical assesment unit at basildon, well i have never been so appalled in all my life they were mixed wards and mixed toilets wich may i add were disgusting, the floors were filthy, and as people have said i watched doctors go with 3 different patients and not wash there hands even though there was stuff on each bed side to squirt on there hands but they did not, and they wonder why they have one of the worst records for infections. But the only good thing i can say is that the nurses and doctors are fantastic they were informative and atentive, kind and caring.
oo- er! saucy!
Donna, 387-711 says...
6:27pm Wed 9 Apr 08
own web site to cover these issues. The treatment my Dad received was unacceptable and should not happen to anyone. I see nurses shouting at elderly patients. Is this how we treat our older generation. I am very concerned for those who did not have visitors. These people are old they are not stupid and should be treated with respect.
My Dad was on four different wards and we
could not believe what we see. We have a great NHS but it needs to put its house in order. I will be making sure that this starts getting some attention, as there are many more people who have had a bad experience regarding Hospital treatment and have been put off by
the attitude of the
hospital. We all need to stand up for what is right. I hope more people do.
Kim Gandy, Rayleigh says...
1:09am Thu 10 Apr 08
Angela Smith is Labour and therefore impervious to anything like this. As for the reference to elderly patients, we all know this government couldn't give a monkey's about the elderly. They clog up the system too much for their liking and waste valuable resources that Labour would rather spend on massive immigration.
Donna: "I see nurses shouting at elderly patients. Is this how we treat our older generation. I am very concerned for those who did not have visitors. These people are old they are not stupid and should be treated with respect."
I work with the elderly and unfortunately this is a regular occurrence. And the way elderly people with dementia and their relatives are treated defies belief.
They are seen as an inconvenience.
In reality, this generation are our saviours. They saved this country from living under a dictatorship and what have they got now? Just that.
A country that couldn't care less about them and even locks them up for not paying their council tax.
There are too many pen-pushers and too much money is invested in NHS related quangos. This money should be allocated to spending good money on proper, professional cleaning staff who are dedicated and not wasted on number-crunching desk-wallers and ethnic diversity monitoring that pervades most public sector employment these days.
For all Labour's mouthing off about how much cash they chuck into the NHS, education and other major departments, they are doing a very poor job of running the country and should be promptly sacked at the next general election.
Donna, langdon Hills says...
4:51am Thu 10 Apr 08
I will be making sure that people start taking notice of these issues. Unless people start getting together to voice their concerns nothing will ever change. It takes one person to start it and that is what I hope will happen with this. I know I have lots of support. My Dad knew so many people and was a great man who everyone loved. It is now our turn to stand up for the people that fought in the war.
The matrons are in the hospitals but I have never seen one on the ward, unless you request to see them.
They should be on the wards to see what is going on.
Ken, Benfleet says...
4:59pm Thu 10 Apr 08
RitaW, Essex says...
8:38pm Thu 10 Apr 08
Kim Gandy, Rayleigh says...
8:56pm Thu 10 Apr 08
The McGovernment at Westminster gives billions of pounds of English taxpayers' money every year to shore up Scotland's services such as free prescriptions and care for the elderly.
Meanwhile, English elderly folk are just sidelined.
This government actively discriminates against English people: young, old and vulnerable adults.
There are drugs available north of the border that are not available here.
And did you know that Scottish elderly get free personal care whilst ours have to pay.
As for drugs, the National Institute for Clinical Excellent (NICE) - yet another UNELECTED quango has rejected the prescribing of the life enhancing treatment Infliximab - a spondylitis treatment; along with some cancer drugsand macugen and lucentis - both used to combat macular degeneration - an eye condition that affects many elderly.
Aricept, Reminyl and Exelon - dementia drugs were also denied, on the grounds they were too expensive. Meanwhile, north of the border, they are freely available.
Courtesy of the ENGLISH TAXPAYER.
Before Gordon Brown ended his chancellorship he cut the NHS budget for hospital building and equipment in England by £2 billion - although not common knowledge at the time.
Scotland and Wales's budgets were unaffected.
Care for the elderly in England remains means-tested and anyone with assets over £20,000 has to pay. In Scotland, nursing and personal care are free - introduced in 2002 for Scottish pensioners, who also get free central heating installation.
From 2010, according to the new Scottish National Party executive,, all NHS prescriptions will be free.
People in England will continue to pay - the current cost of each prescription item - £6.85.
I hope you will cut and paste all this onto your letter to Angela Smith when you write to her and ask her why this disgraceful state of affairs continues.
We need an ENGLISH parliament run post haste.
Scottish MPs are allowed a say on English affairs but not the reverse.
We just continue to shell out so they can have their devolved government while we pay through the nose.
Disgusting.
Lisa Esposito, Washington, D.C> says...
10:36pm Thu 10 Apr 08
http://www.cfah.org/
hbns/PreparedPatient
/current.cfm
Linda, Basildon says...
11:51am Fri 11 Apr 08
rs and "up" patients regularly used the hand cleanser that was at the bottom of every bed, at the entrance to every bay and at every door.The fact that the wards were cleaned to a high standard had the knock on effect that if anything was dropped or spilt, it was seen and dealt with straight away.The rules that were in place made it feel like a "proper" hospital where you went to be made better,not worse!
ju, southend says...
3:14pm Fri 11 Apr 08
Ken wrote:That sounds good Ken but there is one small problem,if that did happen then everyone else,vistors and anyone else who does not wash their hands when coming on to the ward or leaving would have to been fined too ! We are aware there are problems with people washing their hands but again its not just the staff!
How about making it a disipline matter if a member of the NHS treats a patient without due care meaning washing their hands first. A £25 fine against their wages should do the trick EACH time they are reported by a patient
APR, Benfleet says...
5:09pm Fri 11 Apr 08
Nurse, Basildon says...
5:06pm Sun 27 Apr 08
Donna, Langdon Hills says...
6:09am Sat 3 May 08
I reported the ward my Dad was on to infection control. His room was not cleaned for a week and he had C-Diff. I have since found out they did not meet acceptable standards.
After my Dad died I went to see my Dad's Doctor. He told me when you walk into Basildon Hopsital you can smell C-Diff. I am so angry that the Hospital think because
the infection rate is going down it is alright.
I though the Matrons and the Ward Managers were there to keep an eye on cleaning. What have they been doing all this time. C-Diff and MRSA have been a problem for a few years. It does not seem to be getting better
a.smith, rochford says...
3:01pm Sun 17 Aug 08
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M, Wickford says...
3:59pm Tue 8 Apr 08