Unison calls for more cleaners

Jan 15 2008 by Audrey Barton, The Journal

A HEALTH union is calling for urgent meetings with Ministers to start a recruitment drive for NHS cleaners.

Unison welcomed the deep clean initiative announced last year by Prime Minister Gordon Brown but said at the time that it should be used to “kick-start better routine day-to-day cleaning of hospital wards and departments”.

Now Liz Twist, Unison’s head of health in the North-East, has warned the Government that it needs to set recruitment targets for NHS cleaners to help stamp out MRSA and C Difficile.

She said: “We are calling for a meeting between health ministers, Unison and hospital cleaners to give them an insight into hospital cleaning on the front line.

“The Government has looked at the dangers of hospital acquired infections from all angles except for employing more cleaners.

“A recruitment drive with Government targets would speed up the urgently-needed return of cleaners to our hospitals, so that patients and the public see for themselves cleaner, safer wards.”

Deep cleaning is under way at Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, Gateshead Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust and County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust ahead of the March 31 deadline.

A Gateshead Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust spokesman said: “The programme has already commenced and we are confident will be complete by March 31 in accordance with the ‘Deep Cleaning Circular’ from the Department of Health.”

A Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust spokeswoman said: “We started in July and have completed one cycle of the deep cleaning. The second cycle will be completed by March.

“The deep cleaning is carried out by a team of four people who go into each ward as well as the domestic staff.”

A County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust spokeswoman said: “The process includes deep cleaning every bed, bedside lockers, over bed tables and trolleys. The Trust is also running a clean and tidy campaign, upgrading flooring, decoration and lighting where appropriate.”

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