Care Opinion

Northampton - Paddington Ward - Babies Ward -worries about c...

Posted By Northampton patient234

"Northampton - Paddington Ward - Babies Ward -worries about cleanliness"

About: Northampton General Hospital (Acute) / Paediatrics

(as the patient),

I went to see my grandaughter, who is 5 months old.

Each patient had there own room. But it wasn't very clean at all, there were hand prints on the glass and no paint on the bottm parts of the doors. So then my eye started to inpect the room, everything was filthy, even the TV screen. The baby cots where you drop the sides down there is a square piece of metal that was filthy, looked like a tear drop of blood on it. I could not believe how bad it was.

The toilets weren't cleaned either. We washed our hands before entering the room but the room wasn't clean, it just didn't make sense. The entire hospital should be cleaned.

Surely the staff could have 5 minutes to clean the wards. How can they be allowed to get like that? The tops of the cots were wiped that's all.

More about:
Do you have a similar story to tell? Tell your story & make a difference ››

Responses

Response from Northampton General Hospital 17 years ago
Northampton General Hospital

Submitted on 26/02/2007 at 09:04

Thank you for taking the time to post your comments to us

We have tried to take quick and direct action on the issues raised

by contacting a range of people in relation to assessing and resolving the situation.

The ward is an old ward in an old part of the hospital and looks decoratively tired. In dealing with this complaint the Directorate Head Nurse(DHN) has taken a closer look at the ward .

First thing she did was to go to the wards and into all the 10 cubicles to ask the families who are using them today, what there opinion was of the cleanliness of their room and the shared ward facilities. They all stated that the standard of cleanliness was generally fine but one commented on upon the fact that the room was mopped but not swept first, and another that they had just found the toilet dirty when they used it .

In talking to the cleaning staff yesterday evening they told the DHN they had cleaned all the windows three days ago and they did all look clean upon inspection. The skirting boards and surfaces and all were fine.

The cubicle doors and door frames clearly present a problem. Even though the frames were only painted a year ago they are very damaged where trolleys and beds crash into them. The entrance door is in a similar condition as are other room doors.

The ward is a very big and we have had a few complaints about cleanliness this year. .... it really is not a 5 minute job but i understand the point the lady makes which is completely valid.

The DHN asked the hospital supervisor for cleaning to come to advise us on the additional staff we may require to improve the cleanliness of the ward area and the DHN has today discussed using some budget to increase the cleaners on the wards.

I would ask the lady who left this message to contact me and return to the ward in three months time to see the improvements we have made and to ask her to join our patient feedback group as through this we have made many useful improvements.

I will seek the support of the directorate manager and ward sister in ensuring these changes are implemented as swiftly as possible

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful
Opinions
Next Response j
Previous Response k