It is the responsibility of the person in charge to ensure that the care environment is safe for practice (this includes environmental cleanliness/maintenance). The person in charge must act if this is deficient.

The care environment must be:

• visibly clean, free from non-essential items and equipment to facilitate effective cleaning
• well maintained and in a good state of repair
• routinely cleaned in accordance with the Health Facilities Scotland (HFS) National Cleaning Specification:
  • a fresh solution of general-purpose neutral detergent in warm water is recommended for routine cleaning. This should be changed when dirty or at 15 minutes intervals or when changing tasks
  • routine disinfection of the environment is not recommended. However, 1,000ppm available chlorine should be used routinely on sanitary fittings
  • refillable bottles should not be used in settings where immunocompromised patients receive care (haematology and oncology, cardiac surgery, bone marrow and stem cell transplant, neonatal, paediatric and adult ICU, transplant units).
  • where refillable bottles are appropriate for use, cleaning products should be freshly made (never topped up) and discarded after 24 hours (or sooner as dependent on manufacturers instructions). The refillable bottle should be washed and thoroughly dried between uses.

Staff groups should be aware of their environmental cleaning schedules and clear on their specific responsibilities.

Cleaning protocols should include responsibility for, frequency of and method of environmental decontamination.

When an organisation adopts decontamination processes not recommended in the NIPCM the care organisation is responsible for governance of and completion of local risk assessment(s) to ensure safe systems of work.

Resources 

Further information can be found in the routine cleaning of the environment literature review.