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Marsden cancer hospital 'breaching hygiene rules'
Anna Davis24 Feb 2009
BRITAIN'S leading cancer hospital breached hygiene rules by failing to clean isolation wards and equipment properly, a report said today.
The Royal Marsden Hospital, where Jade Goody has been treated, was criticised for flouting rules designed to stop the spread of superbugs.
Inspectors from the Healthcare Commission found the foundation trust, which has sites at Chelsea and Sutton, was not properly cleaning commodes or medical instruments used for internal examinations. The watchdog also found sluice areas in the hospital were dirty and some clinical areas were dusty.
The report stated: "Although the premises appeared clean, the trust's processes for the cleaning of isolation facilities were inadequate and not compliant with local and national standards. Sluice areas and cleaning cupboards that we inspected were not maintained to acceptable standards.
"Sluice areas had sections that were partitioned off and could not be cleaned - dirt had built up here over time."
Inspectors said cleaning cupboards were dirty and had an "inappropriate mix of clean and dirty items" and venetian blinds in clinical areas were "significantly dusty".
The endoscopy suite, where doctors look inside patients' bodies using a miniature camera, was being used as a storage room when inspectors visited, which prevented cleaners decontaminating the room properly.
The report stated: "We observed that the way that commodes were decontaminated in practice was not compliant with the trust's policy. The trust has not been decontaminating all of its endoscopes in compliance to manufacturers' guidance." The Healthcare Commission is inspecting every hospital trust this year to check that they are following guidance on protecting patients from superbugs.
A spokeswoman for the watchdog said: "We did not issue the trust with an improvement notice because of its positive response to the issues that we raised during the inspection and the subsequent actions it took.
"The Healthcare Commission has made recommendations to the trust about how it must improve and strengthen its systems for managing the risks of healthcare associated infections."
The Royal Marsden, along with its academic partner the Institute of Cancer Research, is the largest comprehensive cancer centre in Europe.
It treats more than 40,000 patients from Britain and abroad each year.
It has had one case of MRSA and 33 cases of Clostridium difficile since April last year.
The Royal Marsden's chief nurse, Shelley Dolan, said: "We addressed the issues the inspectors raised at the time of their visit and are pleased to confirm there is no outstanding work, with the exception of the installation of additional sinks in utility rooms which is under way, and the refurbishment of three cleaning cupboards."
Reader views (4)
The only reason The Royal Marsden has been named and shamed is because of its outstanding reputation. I expect if you look at the over all results for the country, the hospital is still outstanding in terms of cleanliness compared to other hospitals. These other hospitals do not get the bad press because they are so distgusting in the first place.
- Naomi, London, 26/02/2009 22:27
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This is absolutely disgusting! this is a prestigious hospital. Maybe they should be using more of their funds to clean their equipment properly and stop trying to save money on items to clean the equipments!
- Anonymous, London, 25/02/2009 18:53
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I note that the hospital has had one case of MRSA since April last year and 33 c-diff cases. In my experience having worked for the NHS before in the complaints department of my local trust, this is an outstanding and positive result, especially the MRSA one, which could not have happened had the hospital not been active in its cleaning plan. I am sure that standards can be improved, as they can everywhere but surely this is evidence enough of the high standard of the Marsden.
- Pauline, London, 25/02/2009 11:56
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This goes straight to my heart. Hospital after hospital has been exposed, but this is The Royal Marsden. And, The Royal Marsden has a special place in the nation's heart.
Clean up our NHS.
- Maria, London, 24/02/2009 12:30
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