Supporting Princess Royal Hospital staff to clean-up

News - 6 September 2018

We were saddened to read, yesterday, of the death of Mr Papworth, in the Times. The inquest into his recorded accidental death noted the poor hygiene and cleanliness at the time of his admission to Princess Royal Hospital.
A female volunteer talking to an elderly lady at a community event.

In May 2018 our dedicated team of authorised representatives raised similar concerns to the Trust, with responsibility for the running of Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath, resulting from observations during their visits to the hospital, as part of the national Patient-Led Assessment of the Care Environment (PLACE) programme.

Our team has since been visiting the hospital monthly, observing and feeding back issues around cleanliness, maintenance and food, to support staff to improve the environment and food services. Only this week, our team were back visiting the hospital and Sue Morton (an authorised representative) reports:

We visited Ardingly, Horsted Keynes and Ansty wards and were very impressed with the further improvements but  there is still work to be done but definitely moving in the right direction. The Facilities Manager stated that there was now a structural focus on issues and ownership of the wards on the on going issues.

Sadly these improvements come to late for Mr Papworth’s family but the hospital's new focus is key and Healthwatch will continue to hold the Trust to account for its cleanliness, to reduce the risk to future patients.

If you have any concerns following a hospital visit just contact us on 0300 012 0122 or give us feedback via our online form.

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