Are NHS wards too dirty?

[AB Asks]

Yet another report has announced how filthy NHS hospital wards are. It has detailed how one in four hospitals is putting its patients' lives at risk. Newspaper reports add that 'more than 100,000 patients contract hospital-acquired infections every year - costing the NHS �1 billion.' Should the government do more to improve standards? Do these findings reflect your own experiences of the NHS?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles /news/news.html?in_article_id=462561&in_page_i d=1770&ct=5

[libertie]

Four months ago a female relative of mine underwent emergency surgery to remove a large growth from one of her fallopian tubes. Four days later she was discharged from hospital and told to go home and stay in bed for 7 days! When she asked why she was being discharged so quickly the doctor told her that as she had an open wound she was less likely to get an infection if she was in her own home!!

[rabbitygirl]

I'm sure we will get many awful stories on this subject. I'm healthy and not too old but I'm quite concerned that my health luck will run out before they clean our hospitals. I would say that if I or any of mine went into hospital at present I would be more scared of hospital bugs than the actual medical complaint.
They will not really get to grips with this while those in charge see it as a problem costing them money instead of the emphasis on costing us our lives. Perhaps they have hidden the true stats for so long that even they dont know how many actually die from the bugs.

[kwicky]

A relative of mine recently had to go into hospital to have his appendix removed. Two months later he was fighting for his life fighting the effects of MRSA which got into the wound. His parents believed their was a cover up with blame being attached to having a burst appendix but this was not mentioned at the time of the operation and he was discharged soon after.

[naomi24]

Simple answer to the question. Yes - hospitals are filthy - and yes, sadly, these findings do reflect my own experience. The front line staff work hard, but standards of cleanliness in our hospitals are an absolute disgrace and the government and the hospital managers should be thoroughly ashamed of the conditions they have created.

[Whickerman]

the BBC programme on this subject a week or two back was brilliant, and made for some bloody uncomfortable viewing...

[davkel]

my daughter was left brain damaged after hospital filth,36hrs after birth,the dr took me aside told me it was mrsa,but i could not quote him,he said it would be hitting the fan soon the state of the hospitals.that was 23yrs ago

[naomi24]

davkel, I am so sorry for you. Our situation is nowhere near as devastating as yours obviously is, although devastating enough, but as we discovered - what can you do about it - sweet fanny adams! Excuses, statistics and lies, lies and more lies. And people defend this abysmal situation. Shame on them!! Every time I see Patricia Hewitt prattling on about the wonderful NHS I could seriously smash the TV screen.