NHS cleaning posts cut by 1,000 in the last 10 years
A hospital cleaner at Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital in London
by Matt Trinder
Industrial Reporter
THERE were almost 1,000 fewer NHS cleaners in 2019-20 compared with 2010-11, according to NHS Digital figures issued today.
Including both directly employed and outsourced workers, the full-time equivalent of almost 1,000 NHS cleaners have been cut in the last decade in England, the figures show.
The amount spent by NHS trusts on cleaning services — essential to fighting the Covid pandemic — fell by £38 million in real terms, a decline of 3.4 per cent.
Research also suggests that the risk of catching the superbug MRSA may be 50 per cent higher in wards where cleaning services have been outsourced, with the GMB union warning that staff are under pressure to complete jobs too quickly.
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