I don't think they've discovered a cure for blind ignorance yet either, so I will say toodleloodleloo.
Oh really? I hope you don't wind up in this hospital
Hard-up hospital orders staff: Don't wash sheets - turn them over
by DANIEL MARTIN - More by this author »
Last updated at 23:22pm on 13th April 2007
Cleaners at an NHS hospital with a poor record on superbugs have been told to turn over dirty sheets instead of using fresh ones between patients to save money.
Housekeeping staff at Good Hope Hospital in Sutton Coldfield, have been asked to re-use sheets and pillowcases wherever possible to cut a £500,000 laundry bill.
Posters in the hospital's linen cupboards and on doors into the A&E department remind workers that each item costs 0.275 pence to wash.
Good Hope reported a deficit of £6million last year and was subject to a report by the Audit Commission because of its poor financial standing.
It recorded 36 cases of MRSA from April last year to January, while cases of clostridium difficile have more than doubled in less than a year to 327. A Government hit squad was drafted in to solve the infection problems last year but the trust is still failing to hit MRSA targets.
Tony Field, chairman of Birmingham-based MRSA Support, said: 'Is that all the safety of a patient's life is worth? 0.275 pence?
'It is utterly disgraceful and tantamount to murder because hygiene like changing sheets is essential to protect patients.
'It proves beyond all doubt that cost- cutting is directly contributing to hospital acquired infections.'
A Good Hope spokesman said the posters went up around two years ago and should all have been taken down by now. But a medic insisted the posters were still on display in A&E and the maternity unit as recently as the past month.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/li...ain.html?in_article_id=448395&in_page_id=1774
or these hospitals..............
Today Which? reveals the dirty hospital kitchens infested by cockroaches and mice.
We uncovered some shocking results when we obtained the hygiene reports for 50 UK hospitals over the past three years.
They contained examples of dirty or mouldy equipment, cockroach infestation and basins with no soap or hot water.
Which? Editor Neil Fowler said: Hospital food hasn't got the best of reputations, but you'd expect the kitchens to be clean at the very least. Unfortunately, we've found this isn't always the case.
Mice
One of the worst reports concerned the kitchen at the Maudsley Hospital in south London. In 2004 and 2005 inspectors found out-of-date food, poor ventilation, mice and staff not following food safety procedures.
The hospital has since made improvements and environmental health officers are happy with it.
Not all hospital kitchens were dirty and several got honourable mentions - the Bedford Hospital in Fort William, for example, showed high standards of cleanliness.
Hungry patients
We also asked patients about their experiences, and found many were going hungry. Twenty-nine per cent of NHS patients complained they were still hungry after meals - compared with only 4 per cent of private patients - while 57 per cent of new mothers said they were left hungry after their meal.
We polled more than 800 people who'd been in hospital over the past year and found only 18 per cent of NHS patients were very satisfied with the overall quality of the food provided.
Neil Fowler added: Our survey shows a low level of satisfaction with hospital food in NHS hospitals. The government paints a rosy picture, but the reality is very different, with many patients left with a nasty taste in their mouths.'
Which? is calling on the government to implement and monitor nutritional standards throughout the NHS and we're sending our findings to the Department of Health and the Food Standards Agency.
http://www.which.co.uk/reports_and_...s/Hospital_kitchen_news_article_557_99136.jsp
Is this what libs want for Amercia? Hillarycare is NOT workling very well in the UK.
