General Chat

I have to say that last week while I was In the U.K I had the pleasure visiting one(T.I.C) with my friend who had an appointment at one in Manchester, while there I needed the loo, In the loos they have a chart saying when it was last checked(according to the notice,they should be checked every 4 hours) I couldent believe what I saw, last checked on the 12 th april 2005!!! Well what more can I say!!!

I guess they are not perfect - but then how many of us can honestly say that our own loo couldnt do with a clean , or the kitchen floor a good wash sometimes. our own hospital seems reasonable - when my partner was last in i had no real complaints

Cor Jess you must have seen my kitchen floor! LOL In my defense I do work full time! ;0)))) Julie xxx

I have an idea for a TV show. Kim and Aggie go into our hospitals. 'How clean is your hospital?' Paul :-)))

hi Jess, I think when your dealing with patients its not acceptable, if your dealing with illness this should be a priority, surely!

Out and out filth is unacceptable yes, of course. there are not many hospitals that is true of. He was in a side room- for 7days- to my knowledge they mopped the floor twice - i was happy with that - I took his rubbish to the bin and swished round the sink. The main ward loo's were cleaned twice a day, the floor damp mopped daily

In a word.. YES! Ask my dad! Maz x

I was quite amazed by this - my friends mother had her breast removed on Friday afternoon, and she was sent home late Saturday afternoon. My friend was dumb struck, she could not believe that her mother would be sent home so quick. The hospitals explanation for this was that it lessened the risk of infection - in other words your home is cleaner than this hospital. Lin

Three years ago when I went in hospital to have my son (this was on a Tuesday) I was given a room of my own as I was having a caeserian section, when I got in the room I noticed the bin overflowing from the previous occupier and there were stains on the sheets as well as balls of dust floating around the floor. I asked if someone was going to come in and clean it up and was told yes, I gave birth to my son the following day and he was in a cot in my room with me, I looked around the room expecting it to be clean knowing I had just had an operation and a premature newborn in there with me, and it was filthy. My hubby came up and cleaned out the sink, emptied the bin and picked as much stuff up off the floor as he could. That room didnt get cleaned till the day I was leaving which was a Saturday and when the cleaner had finished she had missed half the dust balls and only rinsed down the sink without any cleanser. The toilet next to my room was not cleaned once in all the 5 days I was there, it was disgusting! so in answer to your question Roxanne, I would say that in my experiance Yes some hospitals are very dirty. Marie

mmmm wouldn't suprise me roxannexxxxx(((:

A major part of the problem is that hospitals don't have there own cleaners any more. They are all employed by other companies and contracted in. Add to that the cleaners are often payed very little and many only speak a little English. The only thing the nurses and midwives can only do so much, and call for someone to come to clean. Unfortunatly, public toilets (not the ones on the wards) take low priority compared to wards and staff changing facilities (some of the changing rooms are sickening in older hospitals). If only the NHS would bring back the hospital owned cleaners an laundery services we would get rid of so meny problems. The reson the hospital can say that you are at less risk of infection at home is, yu are used to the bugs in your own home but in hospital, there are so many bugs in the air that it is safer to be at home!

Yes our hospitals are not as clean as they should be, but then we dont want to pay anymore tax so you get what you pay for.

It's predictable isn't it. Someone is bound to say 'Bring back Matron' as if that would solve anything. Surely if the cleaners don't do their job then their supervisors should be told and if the person in charge of the ward doesn't make sure that it is cleaned then they are failing to do their own job properly. The cleaning companies have contracts which detail what they are supposed to do and they can be penalised if they fail, so the solution lies where it always has - with the ward sister or charge hand. Years ago it was a general rule to keep women in hospital for much longer than necessary because they would get so bored that they would help out with the running of the ward. Bob ps I worked in a hospital for 10 years and my wife for 20.

The whole thing is an absolute shambles. Bring back proper Managers, who manage people, not paper and emails. Thirty years ago there was a Matron in charge of every hospital who spent most of her working time doing the rounds, managing her staff, not sitting behind a computer screen filling in returns. Each ward had a sister who ruled with a rod of iron, particularly in the surgical wards, where not one speck of dust was allowed. Infection was almost unheard of, and was almost a hanging offence if it was ever to occur. Nurses and doctors should be required to change out of their outdoor clothes before they go on duty and wear sterilised uniforms. When they leave work they leave their hospital clothes behind. Contrast this with what actually happens today when nursing staff arrive to work in clothes that they have worn to travel to work, wander round the town in, and who knows when were last washed in a sterilised environment. It doesn't take a genius to fix this problem

I am a nurse and when I last worked in a hospital (maternity) I was amazed at what visitors would do in the hospital graffitti in the toilets, remains of a picnic on the floor.... Once a family were so busy celebrating the birth of a baby that one member who had over indulged was sick in the lift. The smell permeated all floors for hours. It is not all the cleaners fault.

annie you are right, some people are disgusting.

I dont think there are any excuses, conditions in a hospital should be sterile, The government seem more concerned with targets than hygiene I think its a disgrace.

I have not been in hospital for about three years. I found them fairly clean but my observation would be that on most wards they were perhaps one nurse short, the same could be said about the cleaners. everyone seemed to be rushing around, not having time to do much more than their basic work. Happy days

Not sure whether it was staff shortage or just lack of interest in 'people care' but my mother was in hospital or two days last week and from what I was told her treatment was appalling. She was sick in the ambulance (always has suffered from travel sickness) on the way to the hospital. On arrival they put her clothes in a plastic bag and gave her a hospital nightgown. She needed another pillow and there either wasn't one or no-one bothered to find out. While she was laying in bed a drink was taken to her and when she asked to be helped to sit up she was ignored. It was only due to the kindness of the patient in the next bed that Mum managed to have a drink at all. This lady was also good enough to give my Mum an extra pillow. After an overnight stay, Mum was sent back to the residential home where she is living. As her clothes were still soiled from the trip to the hospital she was wrapped in a sheet and a blanket. She arrived at the home freezing cold and in a very distressed state. This is not the first time this particular hospital has acted in such an uncaring manner. When my Mum had her stroke in January it was to this hospital that she was taken. She was ignored when she asked for the toilet and a lady opposite her was in tears crying for help. When I approached the nurses who were standing around talking they just looked at me as if I wasn;t there. In the end I went to the office and complained to the staff nurse who told me she was to busy at the moment to deal with it. She then continued her phone call about what a great night out she'd had the night before ! Sorry I've gone on a bit but this sort of treatment of any patients, young or old is no way acceptable and should not be tolerated. But who do we complain to especially when there is a high probability that a member of our family will need to visit that hospital again ?

Hi Roxanne, Although not in the UK just thought of my experience this year. I've had two fortnights in Hospital this year first time in intensive care but the second time was on a general ward. The toilets we used were also used by all the visitors & they were in a terrible state. They were only cleaned out once a day in the mornings. In the afternoon visitors' children were in & out of the toilets not pulling chains etc., also being allowed to play with the long loo rolls (those industrial type go on forever). I brought in wipes so everytime I had to go I would clean the toilet first. I ended up with a bug & had to go in isolation at least I had a clean toilet to use. I believe it was due to the state of the loos that I got the bug. The staff are belonging to the Hospital they are not contract cleaners. The Hospital i'm under has been named as the dirtiest on the East Coast and the third dirtiest in Ireland. :-((( Pat x