Royal Shrewsbury Hospital told to clean up its act

Health chiefs at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust admitted the findings by the Trust Development Authority (TDA) - which looked at three wards at the hospital - were "disappointing".

The TDA is a Government agency which oversees and provides help and guidance for all NHS trusts.

Hospital trust chief executive Peter Herring insisted there was no evidence to suggest a wider problem across the whole site - but pledged to take whatever action was needed to put it right.

The content of the report has not been divulged, but its findings were reported at a trust board meeting at the Royal Shrewsbury this week.

The report said: "The trust was subject to an announced visit by the Trust Development Authority on September 15 in order to review cleanliness and infection prevention control at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital.

"The findings were disappointing in that the improvements seen on previous visits had not been sustained and there were issues with cleanliness both in nursing and domestic duties across a range of wards.

"Prompt and robust action is required in a number of areas and the director of nursing and quality along with the director of finance is committed to working together to ensure that these actions are delivered.

"The action plan will be scrutinised monthly by the quality and safety committee with direct assurance sought from those responsible for delivering actions and from ward visits by the committee."

Commenting on the report at the trust board meeting, Mr Herring said: "Although these three wards were not up to scratch there is no evidence to suggest there is a systemic problem. But we have got to take it seriously and every area of the hospital has to be pristine clean."

Adrian Osborne, communications director at the trust, said nurses and ward teams were committed to providing the highest standards of cleanliness.

But he admitted the systems currently in place at the hospital was not always simple and clear.

"Feedback from patients is generally good but there are areas where we need to improve," he added.

A spokesman for the NHS Trust Development Authority said: "We can confirm that following this latest inspection, undertaken jointly with the CCGs - we asked the Trust for a plan of action that we are discussing with them.

"We also require written assurance from the board on improving patient safety and will be monitoring closely the progress against the plan."