Dirty Hospitals May Be the New Reality

That report, published yesterday, noted that: "In the accident and emergency department we … saw floors that were stained with blood and other fluid spillages and black dirt had accumulated in the corners of the bay areas. Six out of 12 privacy curtains we checked were soiled, some with blood spatter." Patient trolleys had side rails that were "marked and sticky". In A&E inspectors found "a trolley mattress with a hole in the cover; we asked the nurses to check the mattress and it was found to be badly soiled and to have a foul odour. In all, 12 mattresses were checked by trust staff and 11 were stained through to the foam."

The health authority implemented several changes to improve cleanliness at NRGH, after a damning inspection report from the BC Centre for Disease Control revealed the hospital was poorly designed to prevent the spread of the disease, which took hold in the summer of 2008 and wasn't overcome until March of this year.