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Hospital completes three-month 'deep clean'
Visiting restrictions also lifted.
Hospital bosses have declared South Wing pristine after completing a three-month deep cleaning programme to tackle MRSA.
The project to improve hygiene and isolation facilities throughout Bedford Hospital began in January .
It involved washing and steam-cleaning walls, floors and fittings such as tables and chairs, descaling baths, showers and taps, dusting and cleaning of all air vents and extractor fans, and re-grouting and re-sealing kitchens and bathrooms.
The operation also extended to repainting walls, repairing and renewing ceramic surfaces and flooring, fitting new ward curtains, shower curtains and commodes, replacing light and attention pull cords in toilets with automatic lighting, installing touch-free taps in wards and fitting a new sealed floor in the A&E waiting room.
The project was in addition to the regular programme operated at the hospital, which includes multiple daily cleans of clinical areas and bathrooms, and the washing of beds and equipment.
Bedford Hospital is one of only a few in the country to have a full-time bed and equipment washer.
Julie Halliday, director of infection prevention and control, said: "A huge amount of work has gone into completing this whole hospital deep clean to the highest standards. The work carried out complements our already exacting hygiene and cleanliness practices, and will continue as a rolling deep clean programme.
"We have undertaken a significant amount of work to combat and prevent hospital acquired infection during the past nine months, by improving facilities, deep cleaning, changing our antibiotic prescribing policy, introducing a strict new uniform code and continually training and educating staff on how to prevent and manage infection.
"As a result of this work, our MRSA rates have reduced by 38 per cent in the past year, and C.Diff rates have dropped by 40 per cent, and we are absolutely committed to reducing those rates further."
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Visiting restrictions have now been lifted at Bedford Hospital.
Whitbread Ward was closed last month after an outbreak of norovirus but re-opened on March 26.
In order to prevent further cases of the virus entering South Wing, the hospital trust remains on high alert and all visitors are being asked to ensure they wash their hands on entering and leaving wards.
Julie Halliday, director of infection prevention and control, said: "Cases of norovirus are still prevalent in the community. Visitors are also being asked not to visit if they have had vomiting or
diarrhoea in the last 72 hours.
"I would like thank our patients and visitors for their co-operation during this difficult time."
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Friday 25 May 2012
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