11-09-2007, 02:30 PM
This story made me wonder if all the people I see running around here in pajamas are hospital patients. icon_confused
By Aasma Day, Health Reporter
Patients who nip to the shops in their pyjamas and slippers from their hospital beds are not helping the superbug problem, it has been claimed.
Complaints have been made about regular sightings of patients leaving Royal Preston Hospital in their bed wear, many of them visiting Booths on Sharoe Green Lane.
One was spotted crossing the road to buy cigarettes, another alcohol and on occasion a man was seen dragging his drip behind him.
Within minutes of the Lancashire Evening Post visiting the hospital on Wednesday, a patient, wearing pyjamas and slippers, was spotted crossing the road.
Nigel Evans, MP for Ribble Valley and Fulwood has slammed the practice and blamed it for being a "contributory" factor in the spread of MRSA and clostridium difficile (C Diff).
The Tory MP accused health bosses of undermining hygiene standards by allowing patients to leave their wards to go shopping at the nearby supermarket and newsagent.
Mr Evans made the criticisms during a debate in Parliament.
He said: "MRSA and clostridium difficile are genuine problems in our hospitals.
"It clearly cannot help if people are traipsing into the hospital after going outside in their pyjamas.
"I spoke to a constituent the other day who mentioned the problem of patients at the Royal Preston Hospital in my constituency crossing the road in their pyjamas, going to the local supermarket to buy things and then returning to the hospital.
"That will not help the hospital's hygiene; we must address the matter far more diligently to ensure that our hospitals are clean and kept clean 24 hours a day.
"Patients should not be allowed to wander into the streets, just as nurses or doctors should not leave the hospital environment and go back again. That must be sorted out."
Coun Terry Thompson, who represents the Sharoe Green ward and is also a governor at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals, said: "I live close to the hospital and I know this is a problem as I have seen patients wearing pyjamas, patients in wheelchairs and even patients dragging drips behind them crossing the road to get to the shops.
"The concern is that not only might the patients be bringing infections out of the hospital, they might be taking infections back into the hospital."
A spokesman for Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: "There is no evidence to support the claim that wearing pyjamas or uniforms outside of a hospital contributes to the spread of infection.
"However, it isn't something we would encourage, particularly as it undermines public confidence in the health service.
"Staff have raised the issue of patients going off site as a problem and we try to persuade patients not to do so. However, people are free to leave the wards as this is a hospital not a prison."
A Booths spokesman said they treated all customerts "on merit".
The Evening Post recently revealed how the number of elderly patients infected by clostridium difficile at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust jumped by 25% in just one year.
http://www.lep.co.uk/news/Hospital-pyjam...3458027.jp
By Aasma Day, Health Reporter
Patients who nip to the shops in their pyjamas and slippers from their hospital beds are not helping the superbug problem, it has been claimed.
Complaints have been made about regular sightings of patients leaving Royal Preston Hospital in their bed wear, many of them visiting Booths on Sharoe Green Lane.
One was spotted crossing the road to buy cigarettes, another alcohol and on occasion a man was seen dragging his drip behind him.
Within minutes of the Lancashire Evening Post visiting the hospital on Wednesday, a patient, wearing pyjamas and slippers, was spotted crossing the road.
Nigel Evans, MP for Ribble Valley and Fulwood has slammed the practice and blamed it for being a "contributory" factor in the spread of MRSA and clostridium difficile (C Diff).
The Tory MP accused health bosses of undermining hygiene standards by allowing patients to leave their wards to go shopping at the nearby supermarket and newsagent.
Mr Evans made the criticisms during a debate in Parliament.
He said: "MRSA and clostridium difficile are genuine problems in our hospitals.
"It clearly cannot help if people are traipsing into the hospital after going outside in their pyjamas.
"I spoke to a constituent the other day who mentioned the problem of patients at the Royal Preston Hospital in my constituency crossing the road in their pyjamas, going to the local supermarket to buy things and then returning to the hospital.
"That will not help the hospital's hygiene; we must address the matter far more diligently to ensure that our hospitals are clean and kept clean 24 hours a day.
"Patients should not be allowed to wander into the streets, just as nurses or doctors should not leave the hospital environment and go back again. That must be sorted out."
Coun Terry Thompson, who represents the Sharoe Green ward and is also a governor at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals, said: "I live close to the hospital and I know this is a problem as I have seen patients wearing pyjamas, patients in wheelchairs and even patients dragging drips behind them crossing the road to get to the shops.
"The concern is that not only might the patients be bringing infections out of the hospital, they might be taking infections back into the hospital."
A spokesman for Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: "There is no evidence to support the claim that wearing pyjamas or uniforms outside of a hospital contributes to the spread of infection.
"However, it isn't something we would encourage, particularly as it undermines public confidence in the health service.
"Staff have raised the issue of patients going off site as a problem and we try to persuade patients not to do so. However, people are free to leave the wards as this is a hospital not a prison."
A Booths spokesman said they treated all customerts "on merit".
The Evening Post recently revealed how the number of elderly patients infected by clostridium difficile at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust jumped by 25% in just one year.
http://www.lep.co.uk/news/Hospital-pyjam...3458027.jp