Antrim Area Hospital, Antrim - 09 October 2012 - Regulation and ...

1.0 Inspection Summary
An unannounced inspection was undertaken to the Antrim Area
Hospital, on the 9 October 2012. The hospital was assessed against
the Regional Healthcare Hygiene and Cleanliness Standards and the
following areas were inspected:
Ward C1 - Gynae and Early Pregnancy Unit
Ward C4 - Elective Surgery and ENT
Ward C5 - Surgical
Ward A3 – Renal(Dialysis), Oncology, Haematology,
Rheumatology and general medicine
Inspection Outcomes
The results of the inspection show all wards achieved an overall
compliance level; in particular the staff in Wards C1 and C4 are
commended for achieving compliance with each standard.
Observation of staff in all wards indicated compliance with many
sections within the standards.
The main concern identified on this inspection was the variety of
specialty services provided in Ward A3, such as Renal Dialysis,
Oncology, Haematology, Rheumatology and general medical patients.
This created a large footfall of staff in the ward and has impacted on
some scores achieved. Of particular concern was the size and layout
of Bay 1 where care was delivered to the renal dialysis patients. The
trust should review the suitability of this ward to care for so many
augmented care patients.
Inspectors observed that the environment in general was clean,
however lack of storage within all wards impacted on the ability to
achieve clutter free ward environments. Of note is Ward A3 where the
extremely cluttered environment has impacted negatively on cleaning
practices.
Inspectors found that further improvement was required in Ward A3 in
the handling, storage and segregation of waste and hygiene practices
standards. In the hygiene practices standard, Ward A3 scored a
minimal compliance in the section effective cleaning of the ward and
partial compliance in hand hygiene procedures, safe handling and
disposal of sharps and correct use of isolation sections.
Although all wards scored overall compliance for the standard
regarding hygiene factors, the section on materials and equipment for
cleaning, indicates that more work is required to improve practice in
Wards A3 and C5. Further work is also required in these wards
concerning correct use of isolation.
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