THE housekeeping team at Gobowen's specialist orthopaedic hospital are celebrating after the wards were highlighted in a national patient survey as the cleanest in the country – for the second year running.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) Adult Inpatient Survey included 144 NHS acute trusts across the country, taking in comments and feedback from around 77,000 patients said about their time in hospital.

A total of 1,245 patients who stayed at The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital (RJAH) for at least one night, and who were discharged in July 2019, were asked to take part in the survey, with 882 patients completing it.

Questions included ‘how clean was the hospital room or ward that you were in’ with patients asked to give a mark out of 10 with RJAH coming out on top with an average score of 9.8 out of ten.

Lisa Soden, housekeeping manager, believes the results are to expected given her team's high standards.

She said: “The team work incredibly hard throughout the year to ensure every ward and department across the hospital is cleaned to the highest possible standard.

“All our housekeepers have so much pride in what they do and to be recognised as the cleanest hospital in the country by our patients really makes it worthwhile.

“Now more than ever, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, it’s important for hospitals to maintain high levels of cleanliness.”

Phil Davies, head of estates and facilities, added: “The scores achieved by many of the Trusts in the survey are excellent, I hope the results of this survey reassure patients that cleanliness is something that all hospitals take seriously.

"I am delighted we were able to place number one in this year’s survey.

“Our ousekeeping team always ensure they meet the national cleaning standards and comply with infection control policies to reduce the risk of infection or illness to our patients. During the coronavirus pandemic, they have been working twice as hard to ensure everywhere is spotlessly clean.

"I am ever so proud of them.”

Other stand-out results included the Trust’s doctors being rated as the best in the country and its nurses came out on top for inspiring confidence and trust. Other clinical staff (including physiotherapists and radiographers) were also rated top, while even non-clinical staff came out on top for the way they look after patients.