18 November 2009
Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust has been declared fully compliant with the Care Quality Commission's 'Hygiene Code' following an unannounced inspection on 5 November.
The code, part of the Health and Social Care Act 2008, lays down the law in setting out the actions NHS trusts must take to ensure patients are cared for in a clean environment, where the risks of healthcare acquired infections, like MRSA and C. difficile, are kept as low as possible. The actions cover all aspects of infection control, not just cleanliness.
Some examples of measures in the code are:
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having staff members who are trained in, and dedicated to, overseeing infection control;
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providing the right kind of hand-washing facilities in the right places, and antibacterial gel where appropriate;
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staff understanding and implementing best practice in infection control and prevention;
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having enough isolation facilities, so that patients who may be infectious can be quickly isolated to help prevent infections spreading.
Following the inspection, the Trust's Chief Executive, Samantha Jones, said: "This is excellent news for the Trust and will re-emphasise to our patients and local people the importance we place on keeping their hospitals clean and safe.
The inspection itself involved a team of experts turning up unannounced at both Epsom and St Helier hospitals. They spent an entire day looking at the Trust's standards of infection prevention and control, and how we keep our hospitals clean. This included visiting five ward areas, including Swift ward at Epsom and A5 at St Helier.
Samantha added: "I would like to thank all of our staff and volunteers for their hard work in helping to keep our hospitals clean and safe and for making sure that we continue to meet the high standards the Care Quality Commission's inspectors expect of us."
Following an inspection, the Care Quality Commission can either (a) declare a trust fully complaint, (b) declare a trust fully complaint but make recommendations for improvement or (c) declare a trust non-compliant, meaning urgent action must be taken.
Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust was declared fully compliant with no recommendations necessary. The Trust also had spot checks in February 2008 and November 2008.
