Poor hygiene blamed on privatisation

The GMB general union is calling for a public enquiry over deaths related to the infection MRSA and standards of cleanliness at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth.

The union has also condemned proposals to privatise hundreds of jobs, saying that management was previously committed to try to bring privatised services back in house.

Derriford heads the league table for deaths related to MRSA, with 22 in one year. The union has written to Dr John Reid, the health secretary, inviting him to Derriford to meet cleaning staff and discuss the problems they face.

Housekeeping services at the hospital were contracted out 10 years ago to ISS Mediclean; since privatisation, the number of domestics and housekeeping staff responsible for keeping the hospital clean has been slashed.

GMB senior organiser Gary Smith said: "Privatisation has meant cuts in cleaning services, so we should therefore not be surprised at the problem with cross-infection. We have long argued that short staffing is undermining attempts to keep the hospital clean.

"The issues around cross-infection are complicated, but there is now a strong argument that contractors are profiteering where the local community suffers."

The government has pledged to review NHS cleaning contracts following pressure from health service unions.