Inspectors praise hygiene at Caithness General Hospital

Caithness Hospital has been praised for its infection control and hygiene

Hospital inspectors have praised the standards of cleanliness at Caithness General in Wick.

They have also issued NHS Highland with a number of improvement notices.

The Healthcare Environment Inspectorate said it found good compliance with infection control precautions and good hand hygiene among medical staff, nursing staff and domestic staff.

Hospital bosses said work had started to improve the problems identified in the report.

The inspection found that some staff were not wearing aprons in the Bignold ward while carrying out medical procedures.

There were also some damaged wooden surfaces in the hospital that were difficult to keep clean.

Full risk assessment

Rural general hospital manager Pam Garbe said: "Personal protective equipment (PPE) dispensers have now been put in place at the designated area highlighted in the report and we are continuing to raise awareness about the importance of and consistent use by all staff of PPE across all clinical areas.

"A team, which includes a senior nurse, infection control, estates and a public representative have also completed a full risk assessment and associated action plan of all wooden surfaces within the hospital to reduce the risk of cross infection."

The inspectors said all the staff they spoke to knew how to manage problems such as blood spills and said clinical waste was stored correctly.

Alison Hudson, lead nurse for north and west Highland, said: "Verbal feedback on the day was excellent with the public representative from the inspection team commenting that 'it was one of the cleanest hospitals he had had the pleasure to inspect in the four years he had been a public representative' which was fantastic for the staff to hear.

"The inspection team found the hospital to be clean and there was good hand hygiene compliance across all groups of staff.

"Staff were also able to explain and demonstrate their knowledge of infection control and communication between nursing staff and domestic services worked well."