Domestic Services
Up until 2005 cleaning services were provided to the Trust from
the private sector - however we now manage these services in-house.
Since this time there has been a noticeable improvement in the
cleaning standards within the hospital. This is due to several
factors.
All cleaning staff undertake mandatory training and an Infection
Control Module and also undertake the NVQ2 in cleaning. These
courses are certificated and this is in addition to their Trust
induction and Local Induction Training on all aspects of the job,
including the Government National Colour Coding Scheme and
compliance with the Health Act 2006 and the Hygiene Code which is
fully implemented at the hospital.
We believe that well trained personnel not only keep the
cleaning standards high but also motivates and encourages the staff
to take pride in their work. We have worked extremely hard to
encourage the staff to take up the training on offer and this was
proven by the domestic department and the management both winning
the awards for "Consistent Positive Practices and Attitudes to
Support Each Other's Development" and "Outstanding Managerial
Support and Development of Staff" at the Trust's Celebration of
Learning Awards in 2003 and 2006. the department was also
shortlisted in 2009/10.
The Trust recently invested in new equipment, machinery and
uniforms for staff which has had a very positive impact on the
cleaning standards and staff morale. These actions illustrate that
the Trust takes cleaning extremely seriously and numerous
independent audits have stated that the Trust maintains a very high
standard of cleaning. The Trust normally spends in the region of
£1.8 million per year on cleaning, employing approximately 200
cleaning staff.
The Trust's significant investment in cleaning services allows
us to have cleaning staff on duty throughout the day on wards, well
as increasing resource availability for busy departments such as A
& E, which now has 24/7 cover. We have also been able to
increase the number of Rapid Response Teams for cleaning
emergencies within the Trust
In November 2008, an unannounced visit from the Care Quality
commission on the Hygiene Code was carried out at the Countess to
assess how the trust protects patients and staff against the risk
of Healthcare associated infections. A large part of this audit
included cleaning standards - which we passed 100%. We also
received an 'Excellent' standard from the government PEAT
assessment on cleaning standards for 2009. The domestic staff take
a great pride in these achievements.
The Trust continues to work towards improving the standards of
cleanliness in the Hospital.