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Watchdog finds'dirty' ambulances and equipment at one of north's busiest bases

The Broadway ambulance station has been castigated by the watchdog over hygiene failings
The Broadway ambulance station has been castigated by the watchdog over hygiene failings The Broadway ambulance station has been castigated by the watchdog over hygiene failings

FILTHY ambulances with blood-stained 'overflowing' waste bins have been discovered during a spot watchdog inspection of one of Northern Ireland's busiest 999 stations.

In what is the first ever hygiene review of the ambulance sector, a catalogue of infection control failings were exposed at Broadway station in west Belfast which led to the regulator demanding 'urgent action'.

Sluice areas for the safe disposal of soiled items and equipment were deemed "unfit for purpose" while patient equipment was "not routinely cleaned".

Covering a population of 118,550 patients, the facility is located in the grounds of the Royal Victoria hospital next to the children's hospital and is the main supplier of all medical equipment - such as needles, oxygen masks and bandages - to ambulance stations across the north.

The appalling state of the building with its leaking roof and "significant water damage" meant that electrical equipment had to be routinely covered while some medical goods were dumped. Conditions were so poor that the stores facility was moved to the nearby Kennedy Way following the unannounced July 5 inspection.

The publication of the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA) report comes a month after the Irish News revealed leaked findings that led to private cleaning contractors being hired to work through the night on 999 vehicles.

Blood spattered interiors and bodily fluid spillages on stretchers went uncleaned for up to a month because overstretched crews were unable to get "stood down" for two hours each week to performing cleaning duties, according to a source, who said the problem had been ongoing "for more than a year".

In its report, inspectors revealed a breakdown in relations between frontline crews and management over the issue - with paramedics telling the watchdog they did not report their concerns to bosses as "they considered they would not be addressed".

The review team warned: "Staff knowledge and practice in relation to infection prevention and control practices needs to be addressed immediately....we identified that not all frontline staff were knowledgeable or implementing best practice for hygiene."

The watchdog also discovered:

- Patient stretchers, spinal boards, suction machines and defibrillator were 'visibily dirty'

- 'Layer of dirt' covering packaged clinical equipment due to be distributed to ambulance stations across Northern Ireland

- Clean linen stored in main garage not protected from contamination including 'dust, debris and exhaust fumes'

- Soiled linen bags overfilled

- Rusty, visibly dirty waste bins throughout station

- 'Over flowing' clinical waste bin in one ambulance, with 'cat flap' covered in blood stains

- 'Sharps' boxes for disposal of dirty needles etc didn't have proper closure mechanisms and contained 'inappropriate waste'

In a statement released to the Irish News last month, the ambulance service attributed its hygiene breaches to huge demands on the service and said it had drawn up an urgent 'action plan' to address issues, particularly the cleanliness of vehicles and roof repairs.

He added: "We are often faced with the choice of keeping crews and vehicles operational and responding to emergency calls or taking vehicles off the road for a period of two hours to clean. NIAS has tended to prioritise the maintenance of the emergency service.

Dr Lourda Geoghegan, RQIA medical director, said they met the chief executive of the ambulance service on the day of the inspection 'requesting urgent action'.

"RQIA considers that immediate improvement is required in governance and assurance systems...to support best practice in infection prevention and control practices across the ambulance service," she said.