Executive must fund deep clean for hospitals following bug in City and Royal

9.40.00am GMT Thu 3rd Jan 2008

Alliance Health Spokesperson Kieran McCarthy MLA

Alliance Health Spokesperson Kieran McCarthy MLA has expressed anger at the news that two hospitals in Belfast have had to close beds because of a bug, and he hit out the Executive's budget saying it was not sufficient to guarantee the level of deep cleaning that local hospitals are crying out for. He said that the budget as it stands is so poor that the health service is stretched to the limit.

The Strangford MLA said: "This is a real hospital horror story. The Executive need to increase the health budget to ensure effective deep cleaning in our hospitals.

"We need deep cleaning to eradicate any possibility of the existence of superbugs. The Executive must also commit to conducting a full review of protocol as regards hygiene in our health service.

"Our patients should be able to have confidence in the health service and it's up to the Executive to guarantee this confidence. They are certainly not doing this at the moment.

"Our hospitals need more cleaning staff. How can the Finance Minister's proposed budget keep our patients safe from infection?

"Our hospital staff do an excellent job with very limited resources, but it is important that reviews into procedures also take place because, as in every walk of life, there may be room for improvement.

"Prevention is better than cure. We need to have the strongest possible structures and guidelines in place so that the danger posed buy superbugs can be countered before any problems arise.

"We have to see sufficient funding provided for the health service to allow the deep cleaning of our hospitals to eradicate disease. The Executive must act quickly and tackle this problem before more hospitals see similar scenarios."

ENDS