Tuesday 27 May 2014

Review of cleanliness services in hospitals

A draft standard of interest has been published for public comment. It is coded PAS 5748:2014 and titled “Specification for the planning, application, measurement and review of cleanliness services in hospitals”.

It specifies requirements for:

a) governing cleanliness services;
b) assessing risk and categorizing elements and functional areas;
c) providing cleaning tasks, including:
1) identifying cleaning tasks;
2) risk assessment of cleaning tasks;
3) providing method statements;
4) setting cleaning frequencies;
5) setting work schedules;
6) establishing competence;
7) contingency planning;
d) measuring cleanliness on the basis of visual assessment;
e) implementing corrective action;
f) conducting performance analysis and implementing improvement actions;
g) providing a continuous service improvement plan; and
h) reporting cleanliness.

In the draft standard, two types of risk are specifically identified:

infection risk – The risk of infection for patients; and
confidence risk – The risk of a poor public image and the loss of confidence in patients and staff of the organization’s ability to provide a clean, safe environment for care.

To review the standard, please contact your national standards office.

Posted by Tim Sandle

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