A union for workers in the public service has said that the NHS should employ more cleaners. The latest research sponsored by UNISON has found that just one extra cleaner on a hospital ward can reduce contamination in certain areas by nearly a third. Hospital acquired infections have been of great concern to patients in the UK over the past few years and has been a major influence in persuading people to get a quote for private medical insurance. The study found that in the six months that an extra cleaner was in place, the number of MRSA cases reduced. The NHS may see employing an extra member of staff as a great cost in the short term, but researchers estimated that the extra cleaner saved between five to nine lives from MRSA infection and up to £70,000 in NHS funds to treat them. This money is vital to any NHS Trust which will inevitably have to make cuts in the coming years as the government struggles to continue the huge cash injections that it has provided recently.


The number of cleaners in the NHS has been cut dramatically over the past thirty years, some say by up to a half. UNISON’s general secretary, Dave Prentis told Health Insurance and Protection Magazine, “UNISON will be arguing that every cleaner plays an invaluable part in the control of infections and employing more in the NHS is a win, win situation - lives are saved as well as much needed NHS money." But as it stands, the news that the number of cleaners has been cut by such a large amount could be a great concern to those people who are already worried about the state of hygiene in NHS hospitals. These people may wish to take out a private medical insurance policy to ensure that they are treated in a private clinic where the levels of cleanliness are at the highest standards.