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Health

Quarter of trusts 'fail to meet hygiene standards'

16/06/2008

More than one in four health trusts in England are failing to meet infection control standards, the NHS watchdog revealed today.

Figures from the Healthcare Commission show that 103 trusts are non compliant with one or more aspects of the hygiene code.

This is "very similar" to compliance during 2006/07.

Statistics from the watchdog are based on declarations made by NHS trusts themselves.

More than one in five (21.7 per cent) trusts said they do not properly decontaminate all reusable medical devices and 16.4 per cent of trusts could not say they challenge discrimination.

Standards where trusts improved since the previous year include compliance with guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice); patient privacy; and learning from things that go wrong.

The Healthcare Commission pledged today to carry out a thorough check of the NHS declarations.

Its chief executive, Anna Walker, said they offer a "critical" way of showing how well NHS trusts think they are performing against the government's standards for the health service.

"We are very pleased that a number of trusts that were previously rated 'weak' have said that they have made a significant improvement. If confirmed, this suggests that the poorer performers are making real strides," she added.

"However the picture on hospital acquired infection is mixed. There were improvements in two out of the three relevant standards. But overall we are still in a situation where too many trusts have self declared non compliant."

If the Healthcare Commission finds differences between what trusts have declared and the actual situation then it can require an action plan or launch a formal investigation.

Trusts that declare a problem are less likely to face an inspection as long as there is evidence the organisation is tackling any problems.