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03/04/2008
Many NHS Trusts are struggling to meet the Government
imposed deadline to complete the deep cleaning programme
introduced in the autumn of last year.
The programme was implemented to help reduce the
numbers of hospital related infections and superbugs
such as MRSA and CDiff etc. The initiative was heralded
by Gordon Brown in September 2007 as a huge step forward
in the fight against hospital induced infection.
There are increasing numbers of
compensation claims arising from victims of superbug
infections.
The Government allowed up to £200,000 per hospital to
fund the costs of the exercise but this is proving to be
insufficient and many hospitals are struggling to cope
with the sheer size of the task.
The process involves moving patients and equipment,
painting and decorating, stripping and sealing or
replacing floor areas and cleaning equipment and beds.
Hydrogen peroxide vapour machine technology is also used
after the manual deep cleans, where areas were sealed
and machines placed inside to clean the area with vapour
for several hours. The measures are pretty drastic but
designed to be as effective as possible.
The initiative has its critics who say that this
attempt at cleansing the hospital environment is doomed
to fail. It is scratching the surface of the problem in
their eyes and will not avoid
clinical
negligence allegations.
It has to be said though that an initiative of this
sort must have some benefits and at the very least one
can argue that the Government is prepared to make some
headway in the immense battle against the superbugs.
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