MP makes case for 'nurse power'

Mr Lyons wants an end to private cleaning contractors

A Labour MP has urged the government to give nurses more control over the cleaning of their wards.

John Lyons, member for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, told a House of Commons debate that he wanted contract cleaning in hospitals to be scrapped.

Instead, he has asked for cleaners to work directly to senior nurses.

Archie Norman, Tory MP for Tunbridge Wells, agreed that a contract cleaning system made it harder to maintain hygiene on wards.

More than 100,000 people contract hospital acquired infections like MRSA every year in the UK. The spread is blamed partly on poor hygiene.

One Scottish victim has already begun a compensation claim against Glasgow Royal Infirmary, where she contracted MRSA.

The problem is when you have contractors, the sisters and matrons have no say in the cleaning of the ward John Lyon MP

Ministers have insisted that tackling hospital superbugs is a top priority, but Mr Lyons believes not enough is being done to solve the problem.

He said it was a "major mistake" that decisions about cleaning were taken out of the hands of sisters and matrons.

Mr Lyons added: "The problem is when you have contractors, the sisters and matrons have no say in the cleaning of the wards.

"If they want to have cleaning done they are told no, because it's not in the contract.

"I would like to see the removal of contractors in hospitals."

Targets attacked

He also called for an independent watchdog "to keep pressure on hospitals... to make sure that, not only are they talking about making improvements, but that there are results".

Mr Norman said that while he was "sceptical" about the benefits of a watchdog, he acknowledged the problems.

He said: "There is a problem with contract cleaning in many hospitals.

"I don't share the view that cleaners have to be employed directly by the hospitals but I agree that if it is a sub-contracted service it is more difficult."

He said he saw the solution in more flexible contracts and improvements in "motivation, a sense of goodwill and teamwork".

Mr Norman also blamed procedures in the NHS which meant senior nurses were "tied down with far more paperwork and back office activities".

He criticised hospital targets, such as those for bed occupancy, which he said ran contrary to the need to fight the "unmeasured and invisible" MRSA bug.