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SPCS; Funding root of KBRH housekeeping woes

Letter to the Editor from SPCS (Society for the Protection and Care of Seniors)
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“The problem is that the funding for the housekeeping staff has been reduced to the point where the staff can not do what is expected given the time constraints,” the Society writes.

We read with interest the article “Housekeeping audits for health facility in the region show most are above benchmark,” (Trail Times, Feb. 22) regarding the housekeeping audit for the Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital (KBRH).

“KBRH scored 87.78—19 out of 58 rooms came in under 85 per cent, 11 of which were very high or high-risk rooms.” (Risk 1-very high risk such as an OR or ER)

Nineteen out of 58 rooms is nearly one-third of the hospital rooms that were audited.

The problem is that the funding for the housekeeping staff has been reduced to the point where the staff can not do what is expected given the time constraints.

On visits to the hospital, it is not uncommon to see staff who obviously have been working in the OR walking around the hospital in their scrubs in Risk 4 areas which by definition are areas not cleaned up to the Risk 1 standards of the OR.

What we would like to see happen:

— housekeeping funding increased

— designated cleaning staff only cleaning the very high or high-risk areas as was done in the past. (Cleaning staff going from lower risk areas to high risk areas can contribute to transfer of germs and infection.)

We are wondering if hospital housekeeping staff have prior notice of the external audit taking place.

Society for the Protection and Care of Seniors (Trail)