[KentLive] Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells hospitals' chief nurse has said patients' health is at risk from dirty mattresses.Hospital bosses have now launched an investigation to check staff are cleaning beds in between patients.
Chief nurse Claire O'Brien said soiled mattresses are often seen around the organisation and must be "dealt with appropriately".
Nurse O’Brien said at the trust board meeting on Thursday (April 26): "We are using this opportunity to remind all our staff on their responsibilities to make sure that mattresses are clean after every single patient.
"This is a really important issue for us to pay attention to and we are going to remind people just how damaged a mattress can be and it can be grim.
"There is a need to make sure there hasn’t been any seepage through the cover and into the mattress.
"Often it can be obvious if the mattress cover is stained but sometimes, not so often because you can get small leak in the mattress which can allow a seepage of liquids into the mattress, which is a significant infection control hazard."
She added other hospitals have run similar investigations where "you can find something on the mattress that you just don’t want to find".