THREE out the five primary care trusts in the News Shopper area are among the worst in the country for the availability of materials for hand washing for staff.
The findings are part of the Healthcare Commission's annual staff survey - published today.
Nationally more than 155,000 employees gave their views on working for the NHS as part of the survey - a response rate of 54 per cent.
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Results from the 391 NHS trusts show that awareness and training in infection control is improving.
A total of 82 per cent of NHS employess said their trust does enough to promote hand-washing to staff - up from 70 per cent in 2005.
There was also an improvement in the number of staff who were trained in infection control - up from 68 per cent in 2005 to 71 per cent.
And 83 per cent of staff said infection control is relevant to their job compared to 74 per cent in 2005.
But more work needs to be done to make sure that hand-washing equipment is always available to staff when they need it, according to the survey.
On the availability of handwashing materials for staff West Kent PCT scored highest, with 4.36 out of a possible 5.
Greenwich Teaching PCT scored 4.30 - below the national average - but up 4.19 in 2006.
Three of the trusts, Bromley PCT, Bexley Care Trust and Lewisham PCT were in the bottom 20 per cent for hand washing materials for staff.
Bromley PCT scored 4.17 - slightly down on the 2006 score of 4.16.
Bexley Care Trust scored 4.14 - the same as last year.
Lewisham PCT's score of 4.03 was the lowest of the PCT's in the News Shopper area, but significantly higher than in 2006 when the trust scored just 3.90.
Nationally 61 per cent of staff said hand-washing equipment was always available when they needed it - a single per cent more than in 2005.
The survey asked NHS employees a range of questions about their working conditions.
And included questions about job satisfaction, working hours, bullying and stress.
It's not just the none hand washing that is the problem its the medical staff who dont change into their own clothes before and after their shifts. Nurses, Dr's, theatre staff etc walk through the car park, eat in the public canteen and smoke in the grounds still in uniform where's the srerile in that? I have had the misfortune in working within the nhs and was forced out by the constant bullying of other staff members but unfortunatly management was'nt interested.
It's not just the none hand washing that is the problem its the medical staff who dont change into their own clothes before and after their shifts. Nurses, Dr's, theatre staff etc walk through the car park, eat in the public canteen and smoke in the grounds still in uniform where's the srerile in that? I have had the misfortune in working within the nhs and was forced out by the constant bullying of other staff members but unfortunatly management was'nt interested.
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