When you’re unwell and need medical attention, you think that the hospital is the right place to be. You expect to receive the help you need and to leave feeling much better than when you arrived. After all, hospitals should be one of the cleanest places around, right?
So what do you do when the hospital you attend is unsanitary? Can you take action against it as a result?
Unclean hospitals can result in infection and illness
As much as hospitals are designated places for treating ailments, they’re also a perfect breeding place for germs. Bacteria can be picked up anywhere. From the beds, the surfaces and even the doctors and nurses themselves and usually as a result of a failure to sanitize properly.
There’s a reason why doctors and other healthcare professionals are expected to take certain actions. Wearing scrubs and masks and thorough hand washing are all required in order to prevent the spread as much as possible.
Rigorous sanitation measures are supposed to be in place in order to contain any germs and infection that could otherwise cause a widespread outbreak throughout the hospital. Keeping the hospital as clean as possible is the best way to decrease the likelihood of the spread of illness.
Hospital-acquired infections
The result of not carrying out proper cleaning and sanitation by hospital staff can result in a hospital-acquired infection. These are usually contracted within two days of a hospital stay and occur due to the immune system already being weakened as a result of being ill.
A hospital-acquired infection can vary in seriousness and recovery time, often depending on how unwell the patient was to begin with.
Hospitals are required, by law, to adhere to cleanliness practices and you as a patient should be able to rely on them being carried out. If a failure to stick to these practices causes you to become ill or injured as a result then you may have a medical malpractice claim against those responsible.