THE trust that runs Worcestershire's hospitals has received a good rating for its infection prevention.
But a senior director at Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust has said improvements are still to be made after a recent suberbug outbreak.
The trust, which runs Worcestershire Royal Hospital, Kidderminster Hospital and the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch, has been given a ‘green’ rating for infection prevention and control following a recent review by NHS England and NHS Improvement.
The positive rating follows inspectors' visits to the Alexandra Hospital and Worcestershire Royal Hospital in March and May.
Among the positive areas inspectors found were:
• All clinical and non-clinical areas within the departments visited were clean, tidy and clutter free
• Cleaning schedules were in place and complete, and cleanliness star rating results displayed at the entrance to each area
• Improved governance and reporting arrangements for infection prevention were in place
• Clinical staff supported each other with "compassionate challenge regarding infection prevention" and housekeepers were an integral part of the ward team.
• Availability of hand sanitizer and PPE at department entrances and appropriate areas within the departments.
As well as being green rated, the trust has been meeting the National Standards for Cleanliness 2021 and achieved four out of five Healthcare Acquired Infection targets in 2021/22.
We recently reported on the missing of the fifth healthcare infection target, which was due to an outbreak of superbug C.difficile (c-diff).
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Paula Gardner, chief nursing officer for Worcestershire Acute NHS Hospital Trust, recently told a trust board meeting that part of the reason had been issues with the cleaning within the Aconbury block.
The NHS England and NHS Improvement said it had found “Accountability, responsibility and leadership demonstrated at divisional level” in relation to the cases of c-diff.
Trust needs to 'build on' good infection rating
Tracey Cooper, director of infection prevention and control, said: “The move back to a green rating from amber is well-deserved recognition of the hard work of teams across the trust who have listened, learned and led and continued to focus on our key standards to prevent infection and built on the core practices in place during the pandemic.
“The review team identified a number of areas of good practice which we now need to continue to build on while we maintain our focus on the area where we know we still need to make improvements - reducing the numbers of c-diff infections in our hospitals.
“This includes ensuring we do not miss opportunities to identify and isolate patients with diarrhoea, ensuring we maintain our focus on the areas where infections are occurring, and ensuring we are reviewing all cases in a timely manner.”
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