A cleanliness watchdog has praised Raigmore Hospital after the Inverness hospital made a number of improvements
The Healthcare Environment Inspectorate have issued a positive report after making a follow-up inspection in November.
An earlier inspection resulted in eight recommendations after “thick grey dust” was seen on surfaces, lamps and trolleys, along with blood contamination on equipment and mattresses in the accident and emergency department.
The latest visit, which took place on November 4-5, resulted in no requirements and no recommendations.
Inspectors said they found a “significant improvement of the cleanliness of the emergency department has been made since the previous inspection”.
Six of the previous requirements had been met, a further was in progress and the final one had a completion date due after the inspection.
This relates to a requirement to apply a standard operating procedure throughout the hospital.
Inspectors probed the hospital’s emergency department, intensive care unit, children’s ward, special care baby unit, an orthopaedic ward and an acute medical admissions unit.
Iona McGauran, interim lead nurse for Raigmore Hospital, is delighted that the hard work put in by all staff across the hospital has been recognised.
She said: “The feedback received from the inspection team was excellent. They noticed a big difference in the hospital with many improvements implemented.
“I am particularly pleased that the patients the inspectors spoke to were also very positive when talking about their stay in hospital.”
Of the 15 patients the inspectors spoke to all felt that there was a good standard of cleaning in Raigmore Hospital and that their ward or patient room was kept very clean.
Comments from patients who the inspectors talked to included ‘very, very good in A&E, and all the wards I have been in’; ‘the ward is very clean and the staff very good’; ‘the ward has been thoroughly cleaned throughout my stay in hospital’.
Linda Kirkland, Interim Director of Operations for Raigmore Hospital, said: “The staff have been praised for all the hard work they have put in, particularly our domestic staff for their attention to detail and for the standard of cleaning.
“I’m very proud of the team for what they have achieved and I know that they will continue to work hard to ensure those high standards are maintained.”