Uniform ban 'will cut infections'

Campaigners in Cornwall are demanding clinical staff be banned from wearing uniforms outside hospitals in a bid to help reduce infection rates.

Former nurses Alison Richards and Stephanie Horton, from Penzance, set up a petition attracting more than 230 names which was sent to the Government.

The petition called for a law to make it compulsory for nurses to change out of uniforms before leaving hospital.

The Government said there was no evidence uniforms spread infection.

Hospital laundry

Alison Richardson, who stopped nursing in 1998 after a career spanning 25 years, said that when she was a nurse there were no outbreaks of MRSA.

Mrs Richardson, who is now a Methodist minister, said this was in part because it was a disciplinary offence for nurses to wear their uniforms outside hospital.

I firmly believe there is a correlation between the policy of not wearing uniforms outside of work and the lack of MRSA infection Alison Richardson, former nurse

"When I was nursing at the end of our shift we left our uniforms at work and they were taken to the hospital laundry and everything was boil washed.

"We never had any MRSA outbreaks and I firmly believe there is a correlation between the policy of not wearing uniforms outside of work and the lack of MRSA infection."

Policies reviewed

However, Christine Rashley, Acting Director of Nursing at the Royal Cornwall Hospital at Truro, said there was no evidence to suggest a total ban of wearing uniforms outside work would help reduce infection.

"I do not think that that has actually been proven by a lot of research they have done into uniform wearing," she said.

"I know we are not out of line with a lot of other hospitals within the south west and nationally."

The Government also responded to the petition saying there was no conclusive evidence that uniforms or other work clothes posed a significant hazard in terms of spreading infection.

It added that trusts were expected to keep their policies in respect of uniforms and workwear under review.