Wimmera Health Care Group has passed an annual external cleaning audit with flying colours. The external audit is completed by Infection Prevention Australia and aligns to targets set for hospitals by the Department of Health and Human Services.
Environmental Services Manager Curtis Morson said the audit was broken down into four categories:
• very high risk areas (such as theatre)
• high risk areas (acute wards)
• moderate risk areas (such as reception and radiology)
• and overall hospital score.
The health care group received a score of 98% for very high risk areas where the target is 90%, 98% was also scored for high risk areas against a target of 85% and 96% was scored for was moderate risk areas against the target of 85%.
“The overall score for Wimmera Health Care Group was 98% against the audit marker of 85% so that is a fantastic result across the whole organisation,” Mr Morson said.
“While the targets set for us are a good benchmark, we strive to be the best we can and the results show the huge effort put in by staff across organisation to get those scores.
“This includes not only the environmental services staff but also theatre, nursing and security/orderly staff who are involved in cleaning as well.”
Wimmera Health Care Group chief executive Chris Scott said cleanliness is an important focus point for the organisation.
“Obviously a clean organisation minimises the risks of infection and is part of our goal to offer the best safety and quality of care to our patients, staff and visitors,” Mr Scott said.
“Cleaning is a high priority at Wimmera Health Care Group and we undertake our own audits monthly to ensure we are on track.”