Top eye hospital criticised over cleaning of equipment

Staff at Moorfields Eye Hospital have been ordered to improve the way they clean medical equipment.

A report by the Healthcare Commission into hygiene at the hospital found laser probes - which are used to measure patients' eyes - were not being decontaminated properly.

The watchdog has given the hospital six months to improve.

Its investigation stated: "In the accident and emergency department, we observed staff decontaminating laser probes.

"We found that there were no guidelines or protocols for the cleaning of this equipment; the medical staff could not remember having had training on the decontamination of this equipment.

"No record was kept of the date that the decontaminating solution for this equipment had been prepared and decontamination was taking place in a clinical rather than processing area."

But investigators found the City Road-based hospital, which has a worldwide name for pioneering eye treatments, was meeting all other guidelines put in place to stop the spread of superbugs.

Last year the Commission rated the trust as "excellent" for use of resources and "fair" for quality of services in its annual health check.

A spokeswoman for Moorfields said the breach found by inspectors was a minor one.

However, she added: "Although this has no impact on patient care, we are now putting in place additional training and guidance for staff responsible for the local cleaning of clinical instruments to assure ourselves and the Healthcare Commission that we will fully comply with this requirement in future."