Reply #2: It's not only in the UK [View All]

[Horse with no Name]

Most of the housekeeping in American hospitals is outsourced as well.
Servicemaster does quite a bit of it.
In the old days, envirnonmental cleanliness was recognized as being one of the major factors in keeping bugs down. It makes alot of sense that someone in the hospital with an infection on the first day will be contagious...but perhaps not as contagious on the 2nd, 3rd days, etc.
However, if the rooms aren't being cleaned appropriately, the germs from the first day are there for the spreading.
Now...some hospitals change the sheets every other day or so--unless they are soiled. Basically environmental services will come in and empty the trash.
When a patient checks out...used to be the room was sanitized.
Now--I've seen them ready a room in 10 min. I have even seen where toilets were left unflushed AFTER housekeeping comes in.
Many hospitals have put carpet down. That way, it cuts down on floors having to be kept mopped and waxed.
But if you had ANY IDEA what gets spilled on a regular basis in the floor of a hospital room--you would be appalled.
And you can't sanitize the carpet. At most, it gets wiped up, deodorized, and left for the next patient to share germs from the previous patient.
I've seen 1 housekeeper in house for a 200 bed hospital after 3 in the afternoon.
I could go on and on about the outsourcing of housekeeping in our hospitals and I believe it to be one of the biggest factors in nosocomial infections.