King's College Hospital makes HCAIs top priority for 2011-12

A report to the board said: “The director of infection prevention and control has introduced a number of measures as part of the overarching infection control action plan. The board regards reducing HCAIs as its number one priority.”

For 2011-12 the limit is six cases. The trust reported signifcant improvments in its cleaning contractor Medirest in February, citing deep cleans and “a fundamental review of the cleaning services team delivering a much improved level of service”.

For several months benchmark scores had not been met by Medirest, part of the Compass Group.

A report to the board earlier in the year said: “Extra cleaning staff were currently on site to address the issues that required immediate attention.”

The March papers said after the problems: “A revised cleaning monitoring regime was implemented, which involves the relevant teams: Infection Control, Nursing, Medirest and Facilities, working together to monitor and identify ways to consistently improve the level of hygiene at King’s.”