It can be very difficult to find the right professional cleaning company to ensure your private or NHS hospital facility is kept as clean as it needs to be to keep patients, visitors and staff safe. There’s a little more to it than your average cleaning job, because of the nuances of medical cleaning and the need for your chosen cleaning company to understand site-specific rules, regulations and processes.
Hospitals are places where people usually go when they are unwell, or they require a procedure like an operation, or examination. By their very nature, they are places where a lot of incredibly dangerous fluids, dirt and debris is presented, produced and moved around, leading to the need for enhanced cleanliness.
A large proportion of this enhances cleanliness relates to the need to avoid patients getting hospital acquired infections. These are infections that were not present upon the time a person entered the hospital, that came from the hospital itself. They include a huge range of infections such as:
- Urinary tract infections
- Central line-bloodstream infections
- Hospital acquired pneumonia
- C.Difficile
- MRSA
Airborne bacterial and viral infections can also be a concern in an environment shared by many people, particularly as that environment contains unwell and vulnerable people who may be highly impacted by something like the common cold.
Without proper cleanliness and procedures these kinds of infections can spread. Bacteria and viruses can spread incredibly easily in a hospital, especially in widely shared areas of the hospital like bathrooms, cafes and entrances.
Professional hospital cleaning services also need to deal with hazardous materials, sterilise areas like operating theatres, and maintain the running and general standards of busy and heavily used areas like bathrooms.
Lastly, medical cleaning staff also have an extra role that many people aren’t aware of, which is patient-facing care. A study showed that hospital cleaning staff can spend more time with in-patients overall, than clinicians, and consider themselves part of the care team for patients. A professional and friendly bedside manner is important for hospital cleaning staff, who may interact with patients and sensitive visitors experiencing a range of emotions (some difficult).
What Does Hospital Cleaning Involve?
As is clear above, hospital cleaning teams are incredibly important for maintaining the sterile, clean and safe environment of a hospital and medical settings. They have big shoes to fill, so how do you ensure that a professional hospital cleaning service is offering the right services? To help you, the following is an overview of what a hospital cleaning service often involves, and what to expect from the team:
Compliance
Professional medical cleaners help your hospital to remain compliant with National Patient Safety Agency rules, keeping to the latest cleaning standards and following the rules of COSHH (Control Of Substances Hazardous To Health). Colour coding awareness is also key to ensuring cleaning teams adequately separate different areas of the hospital and treat them accordingly.
Professional Equipment & Solutions
Medical cleaning involves protective clothing, special equipment and cleaning liquids and solutions that are not the same as what is used on average cleaning jobs. Your professional cleaning company is likely to provide their own kit in order to complete their jobs to a high level, likely in combination with materials you choose to supply, and in combination with your disposal procedures.
All Levels Of Clinical Cleaning
Exceptional levels of cleaning are applied to bathrooms, waiting rooms, reception areas and additional agreed communal spaces like hallways and stairways.
Cafe, kitchen and patient bathroom deep cleans are also something that a hospital cleaning team can complete periodically, as well as high level cleaning.
Areas with an elevated need for the highest levels of hygiene like operating theatres are cleaned with the appropriate disinfection methods and equipment, leaving them as sterile and spotless as they need to be in order to be safe.
A Bespoke Contract To Suit Your Needs
There is no one-size-fits-all package when it comes to professional medical cleaning. Hospital cleaning packages can include a thorough clean of communal, high-traffic areas like waiting rooms and cafe seating areas only, or include the cleaning of examination rooms, theatres and other sterile settings. A hospital clean involves as much or as little as you need, so you can maintain exceptionally high levels of cleanliness in your private or NHS hospital.
A Suitable Bedside Manner
Part of hospital cleaning services is an awareness of working around patients, visitors and staff at all hours of the day. Some NHS hospitals never close, and whether cleaning takes place at 2AM or 2PM, a kind, compassionate and professional approach to being around people in a hospital setting should be expected from a medical cleaning team.
Speak To A Professional Hospital Cleaning Company To Find Out More
Cleaning and sterilising all medical settings, from smaller private clinics to large multi-building NHS hospitals, is integral to maintaining high levels of safety and hygiene. Why not speak to a professional medical cleaning company today to find out how they can help you maintain the safety, hygiene and cleanliness levels in your hospital or medical building?
