Sponsored by
£60,000 to deep clean ambulances
All of Wigan's ambulances are to be deep-cleaned after paramedics raised fears about vehicle hygiene.
The North West Ambulance Service is to spend 60,000 on cleansing its entire fleet immediately with more cash for regular cleaning in the longer term.
Ambulance personnel complained that their workload had become so great that they had little or no time to keep the emergency vehicles germ-free on a regular basis.
At the time one paramedic, who did not want to be identified, said: "In my 20 years in the ambulance service I have never known the situation to be so bad.
"We have 30 seconds to turn the vehicle around when we get a call so we have no time to clean the ambulances. There is a complete lack of resources when it comes to cleaning."
Experts say that superbugs such as MRSA could be drastically reduced by simple but thorough cleaning of health premises.
Earlier this year Wigan Infirmary was subjected to deep-cleaning after the Government ordered all health trusts to raise hygiene standards before the end of March.
A spokesman for the North West Ambulance Service said: "We take ambulance cleanliness and infection control extremely seriously.
"A business case has recently been approved for the roll-out of deep-cleaning of vehicles. Commissioners have agreed a non-recurrent fund of 60,000 in order for initial deep-cleaning to take place, and this is expected to happen by the end of March.
"Fifteen steam cleaners are being bought and extra staff employed.
"The NHS trust is also devising standard operating procedures for this to be carried out. Further to this, the executive management team has agreed an amount of 180,000 for the long-term, regular deep-cleaning of vehicles from April.
"NWAS has been working hard to further improve the cleanliness of its ambulances. We are very pleased that we are now in a position to introduce a deep-cleaning programme to supplement the regular cleaning undertaken by our clinical staff.
"As one of the busiest ambulance services in the country, the trust recognises the increasing demands faced by these staff, in both responding to patients as quickly as possible and in maintaining infection control standards.
"The trust is pleased with the way they manage to carry out their responsibilities."
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Wigan
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 23 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 12 C to 24 C
Wind Speed: 18 mph
Wind direction: East
