Conditions improve at bathrooms in public hospitals, health ministry claims
Islandwide audit now complete as government increases vigilance for regular maintenance of facilities
Published:Sunday | January 15, 2023 | 1:29 AMCorey Robinson - Senior Staff Reporter
An audit into the state of public bathroom facilities at hospitals and health centres islandwide has been completed, and according to the Ministry of Health and Wellness, it is satisfied with efforts to drastically improve the conditions.
Health Minister Dr Christopher Tufton and representatives from the ministry noted the findings of the audit on Friday, but declined to share the actual report with The Sunday Gleaner.
The audit, completed at the end of December last year, was triggered by a Sunday Gleaner probe that revealed deplorable conditions at most of the seven hospitals and four health centres islandwide visited earlier that month.
Tufton ordered the review following the December 4 story that uncovered a messy mix of broken toilet bowls, sinks and pipes; wet, mucky floors, some with cardboard and newspaper spread to soak up the mess; broken bathroom doors; no water to flush toilets or wash hands; no toilet paper, soap or hand towels; detached fixtures that hung ominously over those who dared enter; and a stench emanating from some. Some of the bathrooms lacked piped water, while others teemed with mould and grime.
Last week the health ministry said it canvassed about 1,000 bathrooms in the audit, which covered all four healthcare regions. Some 225 public bathrooms were audited in the North East Regional Health Authority (NERHA), and 656 in the South East Regional Health Authority (SERHA) – the busiest of the four.
“In NERHA, supervision of bathrooms has been strengthened, cleaning and maintenance schedules created and posted, and repair list compiled and categorised,” the health ministry noted.
“In SERHA, 656 bathrooms are managed, and weekly and monthly deep cleaning exercises are carried out. Bathroom repairs and maintenance are ongoing but pilferage continues in some instances.”
In the South Regional and Western Regional health authorities, the ministry reported that cleaning and maintenance schedules have been bolstered, repair works have commenced, and a preventative maintenance programme has been implemented.
“Some bathroom sundries are in procurement and minor repairs continue to March 2023, SOP (standard operating procedures) and maintenance procedures have been completed and circulated, standard monthly meetings are being held with cleaning contractors, and 96 per cent of toilet fixtures, and sundries of upwards of 80 per cent are functional and available,” the ministry said of the SRHA.
The health ministry also said monthly infection prevention and control meetings are being held at all health facilities.
‘GREATER SUPERVISION’
Describing some of The Sunday Gleaner questions as too granular to address, last week Tufton explained that generally things are in good stead at the public health facilities.
Two days after The Sunday Gleaner highlighted the conditions last month, notable improvements were made to the restrooms inside the Accident and Emergency section of the Savanna-la-Mar Public General Hospital in Westmoreland – the worst of those probed.
At the time of The Sunday Gleaner investigation, only one of the toilets inside the men’s section of the restroom worked. To relieve themselves, males were directed to the female section. There was also no water in the pipes on the men’s side.
“We want to ensure that there is greater supervision around the bathrooms,” said Tufton last week. “In a number of cases, the cleaning agencies are privately contracted, in some cases they are permanent employees, and they have reviewed the procedure and protocol around better supervision.”
“They are not only going to ensure that the place is clean but also that whenever anything goes missing they can be replaced. There are some cases where repairs were necessary and those are being dealt with,” he continued, noting the magnitude of the audit.
“I don’t have the costs; but these are not costs that can’t be dealt with by the regions. I don’t think they need special provisions because the regions already have a location for basic routine maintenance, and where cleaning contracts exist, those agencies have a responsibility,” said the minister, noting that some bathrooms at hospitals and clinics were found to be in very good condition.
‘CLOSE MONITORING’
Errol Greene, director for SERHA, noted that among the major challenges to public restroom maintenance is the actions of citizens, who continue to destroy the facilities.
“As fast as we put them on (toilet seats), they steal them and break them off. If you find toilets in any hospital or health centre without toilet seats, it is because they steal them off. It is a common thing,” Greene charged.
“They steal out the flapper balls, they steal out other components of the toilets and they steal the toilet paper. And if you go there, you will see the damaged things in which we lock them. People come with bottles and as fast as we put in the liquid soap they steal them,” he continued, noting that most hospitals in his region are responsible for their own cleaning.
Yesterday, Dr Delroy Fray, clinical coordinator of the Western Regional Health Authority, told The Sunday Gleaner that many changes have been made on the ground since the newspaper’s expose.
“We have set in place specific persons to monitor those sanitary conveniences at Cornwall Regional Hospital and the clinic. We are in an improvised accident and emergency area where the vast majority of the crowd is. That was not built to take a high volume of patients so it requires close monitoring,” he said.
“I personally, along with the CEO, have been monitoring that. All it takes is close monitoring.”