IMPROVEMENTS have been made at a Glasgow maternity hospital after rusty and damaged equipment in an emergency birthing room and stained mattresses in incubators were found during an inspection.
Inspectors from the Healthcare Environment Inspectorate (HEI) watchdog held an unannounced inspection of the Princess Royal Maternity Hospital in October and discovered an emergency birthing room, being used to store equipment, was dusty. It found, further, that the birthing bed frame and stirrups were “rusty” while a mattress cover, used to resuscitate newborns, was “damaged”.
They also found some incubator mattresses were stained and expressed breast milk had to be binned or pasteurised after some freezers were too warm. Concerns were first raised about breast milk storage at the hospital in 2014.
Inspectors ordered the health board to take action in six areas, including safe storage of breast milk, ensuring the emergency birthing room and equipment is clean and that equipment in all clinical areas is able to be decontaminated.
The watchdog said improvements were seen at a follow-up a week later and praised the hospital’s hand-hygiene regime and standard of cleanliness, highlighting that 100 per cent of the 45 people surveyed said they thought ward cleanliness was good.
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said all the requirements have now been addressed and was delighted inspectors had found good compliance in a number of areas.
She said: “We have put in place revised cleaning schedules in the emergency birthing room, replaced mattresses and implemented further staff training in infection control and safe storage of breast milk.”
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