Food hygiene and safety at Eastbourne private hospital criticised by health inspectors
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BMI The Esperance Hospital, run by BMI Healthcare Ltd, in Hartington Place, Eastbourne, was inspected by the Care Quality Commission on June 23, following concerns raised relating to infection control and cleanliness.
In a report published today (August 6), Professor Sir Mike Richards, chief inspector of hospitals, said: “We found some areas of poor practice where the provider needs to make improvements.
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Hide Ad“Patients do not always receive care from people who have the skills and knowledge that is required for them to do their job.”
Professor Richards said there were six areas where the hospital must take action to improve.
These include: taking urgent action to ensure water safety monitoring is carried out in line with national guidance, ensuring the require planned preventative measures in relation to air handling in theatres are performed, ensuring staff involved in the preparation and service of food receive appropriate training and ensuring food safety and hygiene legislation is complied with.
The chief inspector also said the hospital must make sure endoscope decontamination processes meet national guidance and assess its flooring materials to ensure they are ‘appropriate for a clinical environment’ – as carpets were used in clinical areas.
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Hide AdInspectors discovered some food was past the best before date, there were rotting bananas, wine with no cover and food stored on the floor.
They also said they could not be sure that the fridge thermometer was in ‘full working order’. A prawn jacket potato was also found the in fridge which was unlabelled and undated and was unsafe to eat.
Inspectors found the operating theatre environment was observed to be in a poor state of repair with debris on the floor and exposed wood surfaces instead of laminate which is easy to clean.
Professor Richards said: “Systems for monitoring the maintenance of equipment in theatres were not sufficiently robust. Essential monitoring of water and air handling systems had not been performed consistently for six weeks. However, in other aspects we found that there were systems and measures to prevent the spread of infection and that these were closely monitored with good compliance demonstrable through a programme of audit.”
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Hide AdThe report states that the management of theatre storage areas was ‘unsatisfactory’ with inspectors finding fluids and pharmacy products were stored alongside sterile consumable items.