Health Board, Union Quarrel Over Hospital Cleaning Job Cuts

It's always interesting to see what's happening in Europe when it comes to infection prevention and control, and I came across a situation that many American hospitals may be able to relate to – budget cuts that threaten a facility’s ability to uphold environmental hygiene.

In this case, a health board in Scotland is arguing with the local union over cuts to environmental hygiene jobs are placing patients’ health and wellbeing in jeopardy. The union says it has proof that 102 jobs have been cut, and Labour health spokesperson Jackie Baillie has been quoted by the Press Association as saying "there is no doubt" that cuts will lead to patients becoming sick. It has also been reported that the Scotland’s health secretary, Nicola Sturgeon, pledged to recruit an extra 600 cleaning personnel across the country.

The report from the Press Association quotes Baillie as noting, "The SNP government is forcing health boards across Scotland to make savings in frontline services, but hospital cleaning must be protected if we are to stand a chance of beating superbugs like C difficile and MRSA. Nicola Sturgeon stood up at the SNP conference in Glasgow and promised hundreds more hospital cleaners. Instead, what we are seeing is cutbacks in hospital cleaning.”