Mid 'on target'
THE 'Mid' was the only hospital to hit the minimum target set by the regulator during a recent round of inspections.
The Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority examined five hospitals for good practice, hand hygiene and patient equipment.
In total 19 wards and clinical areas in the hospitals were checked, with 11 achieving partial or full compliance.
Only the Mid Ulster had all wards inspected hitting the minimum target of 75 per cent.
The unannounced inspections were extremely detailed, with the independent team checking from cleanliness in toilets and wards to how equipment is stored and cleaned even to how much paint is peeling off walls.
The RQIA's Chief Executive, Glenn Houston said the current focus on hand hygiene has resulted in significant improvement.
However, he said the clear message from these inspections was that hygiene and infection control measures needed to be embedded in daily routines across all wards and clinical areas all of the time.
Health Minister, Michael McGimpsey said he will take more action to tackle poor standards of cleanliness and hygiene in hospitals.
He said that he would shortly announce further measures to ensure that health trusts make environmental cleanliness and infection control a priority.
"Unannounced hospital inspections were part of a major 9m investment I announced aimed at making our hospitals safer and cleaner," he said.
"These inspections give a snapshot of the cleanliness and hygiene standards in a clinical area on a particular day. They have an important role in identifying good practice and driving up standards.
"While I am disappointed that a number of hospitals have not met the necessary standards, I am greatly encouraged that there have been noticeable improvements in hand hygiene compared to the last round of inspections and there is evidence of good clinical practice across our hospitals."
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Weather for Belfast
Saturday 04 February 2012
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Light rain
Temperature: 2 C to 7 C
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