By Stefan Morkis and Finlay Miller

AN ANGUS man has defended hygiene standards in Dundee’s Ninewells Hospital despite further criticism of cleaning practices on wards.

Earlier this week, Brechin woman Marjorie Smith revealed she was so disgusted she cleaned her hospital room herself—even though management spend £3 million annually on cleaning, including employing 300 cleaners.

Yesterday, another former patient came forward to condemn hygiene in the hospital.

However, those claims were rejected by 79-year-old Jim Hind from Arbroath, who spent nearly a month in ward eight, the same ward that caused Mrs Smith to fear contracting the superbug MRSA more than her operation.

“I went into Ninewells on August 7, two days after Mrs Smith and only came out on Tuesday,” said Mr Smith from his home yesterday.

“I was in ward eight and my first impression was that it was bright and clean and during the time I was in there I found it very clean.

“The procedures of the cleaners I knew were very good and very efficient.”

Mr Smith said the cleaners ensured all surfaces were wiped down every morning and pulled out all the beds to clean behind them as well. He also praised the nursing staff, saying they were happy to take up any complaints patients had.

“They were very professional—they take time to listen to you if you have any complaints or worries and they give you complete confidence in the treatment.

“I think we have first-class service at Ninewells—I have told everybody that you get five-star treatment there.”

Although Mr Hind admitted that sometimes things did go wrong in hospitals, he felt that the good work carried out by hospitals every day is often overlooked.

“I think it is important that people get behind the health service,” he said.

Despite Mr Hind’s seal of approval, another disgruntled patient came forward yesterday to attack cleaning practices in the hospital, alleging that cleaners simply “moved germs from one place to another.”

The former patient of Ninewells, who wishes to remain unnamed, said, “The hospital may look clean but on closer inspection it is anything but. From what I saw it is no wonder there is infection in the hospital.”

During two stays in Ninewells in the second half of last year, the woman says she witnessed unacceptable cleaning techniques, and a recent visit as an outpatient left her more shocked by the “crazy situation” in the hospital.

She said, “During a stay in the hospital last August, the cleaner appeared in my bay of the ward to clean the bedside lockers and beds.

“She began at the bed beside me and after wiping the top of the locker and the rim of the bed she moved immediately to do the same with my bed and locker.

“I stopped her and asked her to rinse her cloth first. She huffed at me and then went and washed it before cleaning the furniture. After that she cleaned four more beds and lockers with the same cloth, without rinsing it once. That wasn’t cleaning, that was simply moving the germs around.”

The woman explained that three months later she was in the same ward for a further stay, only to find the same cleaner using the same technique.

“I decided not to say anything this time and she did all six beds and lockers without rinsing the cloth,” she said.

“Then just a fortnight ago I was in as an outpatient and I saw the same cleaner washing the floor with a mop. She sloshed it around without moving chairs or other furniture, therefore failing to clean the whole surface, and she failed to notice a used swab lying under one of the chairs. It was just left there.”

The woman also highlighted the failure to remove used bedpans. She said she did not hold nurses responsible for bedpans being left full for long periods of time as they were very busy, but stressed the problem had to be addressed.

She said, “There are issues of cleanliness with that stuff being left.

“The worst thing is that particular problem has been going on for a while and it has still not been addressed. The whole situation is crazy.”

Brian Main, site manager at Ninewells and responsible for domestic staff, said of the latest claims, “What she witnessed in terms of cleaning procedure was shocking. It is not what we do as routine in the hospital.

“Someone is obviously not doing their job properly.

“Water should be changed between bays and the cloth rinsed between beds.

“I cannot say that everything we do in 42 wards is going to be done perfectly. For this reason we depend on people giving us feedback. Patients should have no fear to do that whatsoever.

“On the subject of bedpans, the nurses are responsible…for infection control reasons.”

Mr Main added that the hospital is changing the technique for cleaning bays. Within the next three weeks paper cloths will be introduced, as they are more hygienic and should stop the temptation to use a cloth without cleaning it.

* A leading Tayside health activist challenged the actions of the Brechin woman who cleaned her own hospital room, appalled at the lack of hygiene there, writes Marjory Inglis, health reporter.

Anne Simpson, chairwoman of Tayside Health Council, the organisation that represents the patients’ voice in the NHS locally, said the woman took the “wrong approach”.

She was speaking at a meeting of the health council in Ninewells Hospital yesterday when members discussed the story of Marjorie Smith.

Mrs Smith was warned of a lack of cleanliness at the hospital before she was admitted for an operation. She discovered a used bedpan in the toilet of the side room she was allocated, a dirty wash-hand basin and marks on the walls she suspected were dried blood or urine.

“If it had been me I would have asked for the place to be cleaned before I went in,” said Mrs Simpson.

She inferred there was an infection control risk if patients did their own cleaning, by asking what materials Mrs Smith used and what she wore while scrubbing the sink and toilet. While sympathetic to the position Mrs Smith found herself in, she challenged her reaction.

“I know it is not good enough (that a patient is admitted to a dirty room) but I think the approach is wrong.

“I am not making excuses but the turnover of patients in hospital is so vast the cleaners cannot be running about all over the place.

“I agree it is wrong (that a room is dirty) but my feeling is this should have been reported and she should have waited until somebody cleaned her room.”