Published Date: 26 August 2008
By Susan Stephenson
A WOMAN refused to stay overnight at Scarborough Hospital, claiming the ward was "filthy".
Eileen Willis, 60, said she was "shocked and devastated" by the state of the Acute Admissions Unit when she was admitted.
Mrs Willis, of Princess Royal Terrace, had been sent straight to hospital by her GP with a suspected clot on her lung.
She was given a chest X-ray and a heart trace and the problem was found to be fluid rather than a clot.
Doctors then advised Mrs Willis to stay overnight but she refused due to her concerns about cleanliness. She has now submitted a formal complaint.
She said: "I was disgusted with the state of the ward. I was already fighting an infection and didn't want to pick another one up."
According to Mrs Willis the issues were: a filthy floor, an emergency exit door covered in cobwebs, mildew and grime, with a moth in a cocoon attached, a radiator with cobwebs underneath, a food serving trolley with a dirty tray and a dirtycall buttons and ledges above the beds covered in dust.
Mrs Willis, who suffers from a number of health problems including severe arthritis, asthma and angina, is a member of Scarborough campaign group Improve North Yorks NHS Services and says she was shocked to experience the lack of hygiene first-hand.
She said: "Working with the group I had heard a lot about these things, but to be faced with it was awful.
"It would appear the only redeeming feature regarding this unit is the dedication and hard work of the staff, who do their best under what can "only be described as appallingly filthy conditions."
A spokesperson for Scarborough and North East Yorkshire NHS Trust
said: "We are grateful to Mrs Willis for highlighting areas of the hospital where cleanliness clearly needs to be addressed. We are taking her letter very seriously and will be contacting her directly to respond to her specific concerns.
"We would like to reassure our patients and their families that cleanliness is of great importance to us and we are working very hard to improve standards and ensure that hospital hygiene is a priority for everyone.
There has been a lot of work done in recent months by staff at all levels around infection control and our hospital infection rates have greatly improved. Indeed, we are currently meeting our national targets in this area.
We recognise that some areas of the hospital require urgent maintenance and this is something we are also tackling. Within a hospital like Scarborough, there are bound to be some older buildings. We know that these require more urgent attention and we are currently working on a maintenance schedule, working across the hospital to improve things for patients.
"We also started an ongoing deep cleaning programme last year. We don't view this as a one off cleaning exercise and have embedded deep cleaning into a repeat cleaning programme for the future.
"We will be explaining in more detail to Mrs Willis the plans we have to improve and how we are working with patients to help deliver the highest standards of care."
The full article contains 528 words and appears in Scarborough Evening News newspaper.
DISGUSTED ... Patient Eileen WIllis refused to stay overnight at Scarborough Hospital because of concerns over cleanliness 083468
Published Date: 27 August 2008
By Sophie Barley Scarborough Evening News
SCARBOROUGH Hospital is undergoing urgent maintenance work to improve its overall standards and hygiene on some wards.
The Evening News revealed yesterday that Eileen Willis, of Princess Royal Terrace, refused to stay overnight at the hospital, claiming her ward was "filthy".
Bosses at the hospital have since confirmed work will be undertaken to improve cleanliness.
A spokesperson for the Scarborough and North East Yorkshire NHS Trust said: "We are grateful to Mrs Willis for highlighting areas of the hospital where cleanliness clearly needs to be addressed. We are taking her letter very seriously and will be contacting her directly to respond to her specific concerns.
"We would like to reassure our patients and their families that cleanliness is of great importance to us and we are working very hard to improve standards and ensure that hospital hygiene is a priority for everyone. There has been a lot of work done in recent months by staff at all levels around infection control and out hospital infection rates have greatly improved.
"Indeed, we are currently meeting our national targets in this area.
"We recognise that some areas of the hospital require urgent maintenance and this is something we are also tackling.
"Within a hospital like Scarborough, there are bound to be some older buildings. We know that these require more urgent attention and we are currently working on a maintenance schedule, working across the hospital to improve things for patients.
"We also started an ongoing deep cleaning programme last year. We don't view this as a one off cleaning exercise and have embedded deep cleaning into a repeat cleaning programme for the future.
"We will be explaining in more detail to Mrs Willis the plans we have to improve and how we are working with patients to help deliver the highest standards of care."
Mrs Willis had been sent to hospital by her GP with a suspected clot on her lung.
However she refused to stay overnight as she claims the ward was "disgusting" with filthy floors, an emergency exit covered in cobwebs, mildew and grime, a radiator with cobwebs underneath, a food serving trolley with a dirty tray, dirty nurse call buttons and ledges above the beds covered in dust.
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