Housekeepers clean up again in national patient survey

The Housekeeping team at Shropshire’s specialist orthopaedic hospital are celebrating after the wards were highlighted in a national patient survey as the cleanest in the country – for the second year running.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) Adult Inpatient Survey includes 144 NHS acute trusts across the country and reveals what nearly 77,000 patients said about their time in hospital.

A total of 1,245 patients who stayed at The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital for at least one night, and who were discharged in July 2019, were asked to take part in the survey, with 882 patients completing it.

Questions included ‘how clean was the hospital room or ward that you were in’ with patients asked to give a mark out of 10 with RJAH coming out on top with an average score of 9.8 out of ten.

Lisa Soden, Housekeeping Manager, said: “The team work incredibly hard throughout the year to ensure every ward and department across the hospital is cleaned to the highest possible standard.

“All our Housekeepers have so much pride in what they do and to be recognised as the cleanest hospital in the country by our patients really makes it worthwhile.

“Now more than ever, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, it’s important for hospitals to maintain high levels of cleanliness.”

The Adult Inpatient Survey gives a snapshot of the world before covid-19, and is regarded as a useful tool for telling NHS Trusts what their patients really think about all aspects of the care they received.

Phil Davies, Head of Estates and Facilities, said: “The scores achieved by many of the Trusts in the survey are excellent, I hope the results of this survey reassure patients that cleanliness is something that all hospitals take seriously. I am delighted we were able to place no. 1 in this year’s survey.

“Our Housekeeping team always ensure they meet the national cleaning standards and comply with infection control policies to reduce the risk of infection or illness to our patients. During the coronavirus pandemic, they have been working twice as hard to ensure everywhere is spotlessly clean.

“Placing top in the country for our cleanliness standards really demonstrates how hard the team work and I am ever so proud of them.”

Overall patient experience at RJAH was rated as best in the country in the same survey, and once again, the Trust was named as one of just nine NHS organisations placed in the top band of Trusts delivering results that are considered “much better than expected” and also “much better” in both medical care and surgery.

Other stand-out results included the Trust’s doctors being rated as the best in the country and its nurses came out on top for inspiring confidence and trust. Other clinical staff (including physiotherapists and radiographers) were also rated No 1, while even non-clinical staff came out on top for the way they look after patients.

Full details of the Adult Inpatient Survey 2019 can be found online.