25 January 2002
Scottish health unions have called for an investigation into a possible link between poor hygiene practices in hospitals and the rapid spread of a stomach virus across Scottish wards.
Unison this week claimed that outbreaks of a virus with similar symptoms to gastro-enteritis could be exacerbated by poor hygiene conditions on hospital wards that have struggled to meet cleaning requirements since private contractors were recruited.
Similar infections have spread through hospitals and schools in England, but doctors have been quick to state that the viruses are different and do not represent a single epidemic.
There was growing alarm in Scotland, however, where 12 hospitals and a school are reported to have been hit by the same virus – small round virus (SRV) – that forced the closure to new patients of two Glasgow wards.
The two hospitals concerned – the Victoria Royal Infirmary and Drumchapel – had previously been accused of exhibiting poor ward hygiene.
Unison revealed it wrote to the Scottish health minister on January 18 requesting the removal of private contractor Sodexho from the Victoria Infirmary. Since then, the hospital has dealt with more than 280 patients and staff infected with SRV.
Jim Devine, Unison's Scottish organiser, told Public Finance that he 'was virtually convinced' of the link between the exacerbation of SRV and poor hygiene.
Quoting a report by Audit Scotland, he said that around 40% of hospitals were not cleaning wards in accordance with NHS guidelines.
'Around 5,000 people in the UK die from hospital-acquired infections every year and these [Audit Scotland] statistics do little to convince patients that they are safe from infection.'
But the South Glasgow University Hospitals NHS Trust – which runs the Victoria Infirmary – poured scorn on Unison's claim.
A spokesman said: 'SRV is an airborne virus and the insinuation that it is exacerbated and transmitted by not washing your hands properly, for example, is incorrect. The fact that SRV has spread across Scotland is testimony to how difficult it is to control in winter.'
Scottish health minister Malcolm Chisholm, however, announced that every hospital in Scotland would undergo hygiene inspections.
The Glasgow University Trust, meanwhile, has implemented emergency measures, such as grouping patients on empty wards, to allow disinfection. The knock-on effect has been the cancellation of 240 elective operations.
PFjan2002
