My horror at bloody mess in A&E

From the archive, first published Wednesday 25th Apr 2007.

A WOMAN says she was so disgusted casualty department staff made no effort to clean blood off the floor she stormed out.

Ramona Day, 41, claims she felt sick when she saw a trail of blood, leading from the main entrance to the reception area at Basildon Hospital's A&E department.

She had just had root canal surgery and was after painkillers from an emergency doctor when she came in, at 8.30pm on Sunday.

Miss Day, of Gideons Way, Stanford-le-Hope, said: "I decided it wasn't worth the risk of getting infected.

"It was like a child had cut his foot and walked the blood up to reception.

"Anyone could have slipped. Then there's the danger of people getting infected with HIV or MRSA.

"I really don't think blood should be left on the floor for any length of time. If this sort of thing is allowed to go on, they are failing in their duty of care to patients."

She ended up getting some painkillers from her dentist instead.

Hospital spokesman Pat Trinnaman said: "The trust's cleaning contract provides 24-hour cover in areas such as accident and emergency.

"However, body fluids, such as blood, have to be dealt with initially by clinical staff, to ensure there is no risk of infection.

"It is possible in a busy area like this staff might not be immediately aware someone had dripped blood in the entrance area.

"We would ask anyone noticing any sort of spillage to bring it to the attention of staff, so it can be dealt with quickly."