Team found dirt on hospital ward

The team from Gwent Community Council (CHC), the independent patients' watchdog, found gynaecology ward B7 East and West in the Newport hospital (pictured) in a "deplorable state" during a monitoring visit.

Dirt and dust were widespread, toilet and bathroom facilities poor, a bedpan and urine specimen were left uncovered, and patients' notes were not secured.

Ward conditions were shortly afterwards deemed unacceptable in nine out of 12 sections of a Gwent Healthcare Trust cleanliness audit.

The trust says it has acknowledged the CHC's concerns and taken action to put things right since the visit in April. But the CHC plans to send in a monitoring team on an unscheduled visit to see for themselves.

CHC teams carry out around 100 visits to Gwent hospital wards, departments and clinics each year.

Most visits highlight concerns, generally of a minor nature, and team members give praise where it is due. But the report on Ward B7 East and West makes particularly grim reading. The team found:

l Dirty and dusty trolleys, equipment and window ledges;

l Patients' notes in a crate on the floor, and on a trolley in the corridor;

l An uncovered bedpan and urine specimen in the sluice room;

l Bags of linen on the floor;

lClothes and towels drying on radiators.

Toilet and bathroom facilities were assessed as 'poor'. On B7 West a bath was unusable until a part arrived, and there was no shower chair for disabled and elderly patients. On B7 East, bathrooms were dirty and dusty and used to store equipment.

"The patients spoken to (10) also mentioned the unclean aspect of the ward, although they had praise for the nursing staff," said the CHC report.

"We found the state of the ward deeply upsetting, the level of cleanliness was appalling. We find it hard to believe that a surgical ward could be in such a deplorable state. There has been a breakdown in communication and lack of support service for this ward and nursing staff."