More than 150 wards and departments handed five-star cleanliness rating in new national scheme
More than 150 wards and departments have achieved a five-star cleanliness rating as part of the new NHS Cleaning Standards.
The overall cleanliness of areas across both Royal Stoke and County Hospitals are now audited monthly, with a star rating displayed for patients, visitors and staff to see.
The national initiative was introduced in June by UHNM’s Estates, Facilities and PFI team working in partnership with Nursing and Infection Prevention colleagues.
Lorraine Whitehead, Director of Estates, Facilities and PFI at UHNM, said: “We know how much cleanliness matters to our patients, visitors and staff and the introduction of this new star rating system helps demonstrate our commitment to collectively working to provide a safe, clean environment and contribute to the overall patient experience and patient-centred care.”
“The star ratings are a simple and effective way of reassuring patients, the public and staff about cleaning standards achieved through audit and displaying overall cleanliness results is an important part of this audit process.”
Areas are judged on the cleanliness of their whole environment including work carried out by clinical, domestic or estates colleagues.
Lorraine said: “Since the introduction of the standards five months ago, it’s fantastic to see that 151 areas have achieved a 5-star rating, with some achieving this more than once. This is a fantastic achievement given the rigorous audit process. We have also been impressed by the commitment of all areas to deliver improvements where needed, with a good example of this being our recent ‘Super Clean Day’ and the hard work and dedication of all observed as part of this to improve the cleanliness of our stock of beds across UHNM.”
One of the areas to achieve a five-star rating was Ward 109 (Upper and lower Gastrointestinal) at Royal Stoke.
Senior Sister Stacey Sherwood said: “As a team, achieving a five-star rating makes us feel very proud. We’ve embraced these new standards, with all members of the team from nurses to healthcare assistants and domestics working hard to improve on our previous four-star rating. This shows teamwork and determination can achieve good things.”
Domestic Assistants Karen and Angie on Ward 109 said: “We feel very excited and proud to have achieved these standards. We love our jobs and the patient and staff interaction we have and feel very much part of the ward teams.”
There was also success at County Hospital, with Ward 15 (Elderly Care) also achieving the best possible five-star rating.
Sister Jessy Bipin said: “It has been wonderful to see what it means to staff when they achieve five-star status and these standards are testament to the fantastic teamwork between non-clinical and clinical teams working incredibly hard together, and committed to ensuring that we provide the best possible environment for our patients and staff. We have a lot of comments from other areas who say how clean and tidy Ward 15 is.”
Ramona, Facilities Services Support Assistant on Ward 15, said: “I’ve worked for UHNM for over 34 years. I love coming into work and interacting with patients, building up a relationship with them. Everyone works together well and there’s a sense of community on the ward which goes a long way.”
The NHS Cleaning Standards builds on the success of UHNM’s last PLACE inspection, the annual assessment of non-clinical care environment which saw the Trust achieve an above national average 99.72% score for cleaning.
Lorraine added: “I would like to congratulate all teams who have achieved a 5-star status and say thank you to all staff who continue to work hard day in and day out to deliver high standards of cleanliness, recognising just how vital this is to our patients”.
As a thank you for all their hard work as part of the NHS Cleaning Standards, UHNM’s Facilities Team won December’s Team of the Month Award.