Hospital cleaning award

County Durham & Darlington NHS Foundation Trust has won the 2008 Hospital Cleaning Award, given as part of the Health Business Awards, held annually by Health Business magazine. The Trust uses specialist steam cleaning and sanitising equipment supplied by OspreyDeepclean, a division of Proventec HealthCare, and itself one of the sponsors of the awards.
The Hospital Cleaning Award acknowledges the efforts made by NHS organisations to raise standards in cleanliness and reduce the risk of healthcare associated infections.
A spokesperson for the organisers said: “As part of its deep clean initiative, County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust developed comprehensive action plans for each of its five sites. The assessment process was exhaustive, and included key staff from nursing, infection control and estates & facilities working together to identify ongoing requirements to ensure the sustainability of deep cleaning. The Trust has set up its own patient environment action team, and among other improvements has introduced a patient equipment decontamination unit to deep clean commodes. By investing a further £345,000 per annum, it has increased the frequency of cleaning, and has installed washable window blinds, new floor surfaces and new steam cleaning equipment. The detailed action plans have enabled County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust to improve on its cleanliness score, and have reinforced the importance of partnership working between nursing, infection control and facilities departments.”
The OspreyDeepclean steam sanitising equipment was chosen by the Trust following an exhaustive selection process led by facilities manager, Stuart Wray, who said: “We had heard and read some good reports about OspreyDeepclean equipment then, following the government’s Deep Clean initiative, looked at some presentations and chose to use its machines. Naturally we did this in full collaboration with our infection control team to ensure that the equipment was properly suited.”
Following the initial deep clean, steam sanitising is now routine on the wards. There are two Steam & Vac Pro machines used on the wards and a larger ProVap machine that stays in the decontamination unit where bedside tables and other patient equipment may be taken.
“All patient equipment from drip stands to commodes is tagged in the decontamination room so we are able to identify when this type of equipment was last cleaned,” said Wray. “The machines are themselves easy to keep clean but it is important to keep track of where they have been used, as they may themselves be rapidly decontaminated.”
Mike Osiadacz, sales director at OspreyDeepclean, said: “We are delighted that one of our customers has won the Hospital Cleaning Award. If further validation of the efficacy of steam decontamination for infection control within the healthcare sector were ever needed, this is it.”
www.ospreydc.com