What Are the Care Quality Commission Regulations for Hospital Cleaning?

The importance of hospital cleanliness

Cleanliness and hygiene is important in any public place, but in hospitals and medical practices it is critical due to the fact that the spread of germs can endanger individuals who are already at risk. Nosocomial infection is the name given to hospital-acquired infections which are unrelated to the original illness being treated. According to the Department of Health, these healthcare association infections cost the health service around £1 billion a year.

Therefore, keeping cleaning standards at the highest level is not only important to adhere to legislation, but will also help save health care services time and money. Hospital cleaning is a crucial part of overall health and safety, as it’s a major contributor to controlling the spread of infections.

The CQC Regulations

Medical practices in the UK must adhere to strict government legislation under the Health and Social Care Act 2008. To ensure people who use health and social care services receive safe and effective care, all hospitals and surgeries are monitored by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), an independent regulator of health and social care. The CQC monitor, inspect and rate the standards of health care services, and advise on improvements needed to ensure legislations are being met.

The CQC Regulations cover premises and equipment and state that both must be kept clean in line with current legislations. This means appropriate cleaning methods and agents should be used to keep the premises visibly clean and odour free. Practices should set up an appropriate cleaning schedule which should be monitored frequently. If not up to standard, action must be taken immediately to ensures the highest possible hygiene standards are met.

Who needs to abide by the CQC Regulations?

The CQC regulate all services that provide health and social care including:

• Hospitals
• Clinics
• Hospices
• Doctors
• Children’s services
• Ambulances
• Care homes
• Dentists
• Mental health services

All of these practices must abide by the CQC Regulations which ensure the correct government Code of Practice is followed.  The CQC have the power to take action if required to make sure that appropriate cleaning methods are enforced at any of the health and social care facilities listed above.

Providing a clean hospital environment

CQC Regulations are understandably strict, so you will probably need to take your staff away from their duties in order to train them properly. To avoid this, you could use a professional cleaning company with experience in cleaning medical practices who will understand what needs to be done to clean to high standards.

Jani-King provide healthcare cleaning services for medical practices. Our commercial cleaning teams will be able to give you the peace of mind that your facility is being cleaned to a high standard with hygiene in mind to ensure the safety of patients, visitors and staff.

With tight public health care service budgets, we understand that you need to meet the highest hygiene standards in the most cost-efficient way. That’s why we provide tailor-made cleaning services and charge by clean, not by hour. This means we’ll provide the best results using the most efficient cleaning methods for your premises.

Here are a few tips to keep germs at bay:

• Make sure staff practice good overall hygiene and especially good hand hygiene
• Ensure any toys left out for children to play with are regularly sanitised
• Provide tissues
• Remove magazines from waiting areas as they can spread germs
• Make sure ventilations are cleaned regularly
• Ensure the cleaning company are up-to-date with medical standards
• Areas such as door knobs and light switches are touched frequently and should therefore be cleaned regularly

Contact Jani King for outstanding medical premises

With over 50 years’ experience in commercial cleaning, Jani King are one of the most renowned professional cleaning companies and can expertly take care of all of your hospital cleaning and surgery cleaning services. Our franchise model means that you receive the dedicated service of a small company combined with the resources, knowledge and high standards of a large company for outstanding, efficient results.

If you want to find out more about our healthcare cleaning services, then contact our expert team who will be happy to help you.