Inspectors praise infection control standards at hospital

An unannounced inspection of the Gilbert Bain Hospital resulted in largely positive feedback.

The Healthcare Environment Inspectorate (HEI) carried out the inspection between 30th November and 1st December, primarily judging the hospital on infection prevention standards.

The hospital was rated on the basis of its self-assessment information, an inspection of the wards and departments and discussions with patients and staff.

Results were largely positive for the hospital with inspectors finding that the standard of equipment cleanliness was high and that staff knowledge of standard infection control procedures was good.

There was also positive feedback from all patients asked about the care they received and the cleanliness of the environment, as well as good evidence that patient information was available and on display throughout the hospital, promoting good infection prevention principles.

One area where inspectors said improvements could be made was in preventing water ingress in the accident and emergency unit and connecting corridors during periods of extreme weather.

Ralph Roberts, chief executive of NHS Shetland, said: “I am really pleased that we have received such positive feedback from this inspection process which provides independent confirmation of the infection control measures that we have in place.

“We have showed continued improvement since our last inspection in November 2013 with low infection rates and consistently positive feedback from patients about the standards of cleanliness in the hospital. We recognise that there is work required to prevent water ingress during periods of poor weather and will continue to prioritise this as we move into 2017/18.”

Mr Roberts added: “I would like to congratulate staff on this positive feedback and thank them for their work to maintain high standards of patient care and in providing a safe and clean environment. We are particularly pleased this was recognised in the patient and visitor comments that were received and feel proud of the services that we deliver in Shetland.

“The inspection findings help us to further improve our service and we have responded quickly to the recommendations that have been made in this report.”