Fife Hospital Under Scrutiny

Concerns have been raised about cleanliness levels at Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy.

Inspectors from HEI turned up unannounced in December.

They inspected accident and emergency, the maternity inpatient ward, ward 15 (care of the elderley), ward 34 (haematology), ward 44 (medical) and ward 54 (surgical).

They found that nine out of ten emergency patient trolley frames were contaminated with blood and or body fluids, while four out of four sharps trays in ward 15 were contaminated with blood.

The matter has been reported to the Scottish Government.

Overall, HEI found evidence of varying compliance with standards designed to protect patients, staff and visitors from the risk of acquiring an infection.

Areas of good compliance included:

• peripheral vascular catheers (PVCs) were well managed
• staff were knowledgeable about patient isolation procedures, and
• the fabric of the building was in a good state of repair

Concerns raised by HEI included:

• the cleanliness of the environmental and patient equipment in the A&E department staff taking the opportunity to decontaminate their hands at appropriate times, and
• the availability of alcohol-based hand rub at the point of patient care

NHS Fife Board Chairman, Allan Burns, commented: "NHS Fife is constantly striving to raise the standard of care it provides and therefore it is extremely disappointing to receive this report. People served by the Board have my assurance that everything will be done to address the concerns highlighted in the report and to attain the standards 
required."

Dr Brian Montgomery, Interim Chief Executive, said: "I am very disappointed that the report has highlighted a number of areas where NHS Fife has fallen short of the required standards. While there has been some progress in relation to areas for improvement highlighted in previous reports, there is still work to be done to raise standards to a consistent level in all areas of the Victoria Hospital.

"I would reassure our patients that urgent action has already been taken to address the issues raised by the inspection report. Actions already taken include the revision and enhancement of cleaning schedules, with additional monitoring at both ward and hospital management level to ensure that high standards of cleanliness are met in all 
wards and departments.

"Progress is being closely monitored and will be reported back directly through the NHS Fife Board. In addition, we have invited senior staff from Health Protection Scotland to provide independent scrutiny of our improvements.

"NHS Fife is fully committed to providing a clean, safe environment."