Why not come and join hospital ‘cleaners’?

Monday 21st February 2011, 3:00PM GMT.

From Alison Yates.
I WOULD like to invite your correspondent John Dix (JEP, 16 February) who asked why hospital cleaners are paid £10 an hour to undertake some of the duties the hospital ‘cleaners’ have to do.

First of all, they are fully trained housekeepers who are part of the ward team. Some of their duties include food service which means they have to have dietary knowledge for some complex medical conditions.

Deep cleaning that is undertaken after infections, which include MRSA, Norovirus, HIV, C.Dif, TB, etc. all have different cleaning methods. This is on top of their normal work. The majority of infections occur when a patient has attended a UK hospital
where the ‘cleaners’ are out sourced and paid a pittance. Which Mr Dix advocates.

Cleaning is undertaken in very difficult circumstances on a very busy ward with seriously ill people, often dealing with emotional patients and relatives. They have to clean up every bodily fluid you can imagine. There are two housekeepers on a busy ward where everything has to be cleaned in a short space of time with minimal inconvenience to patients, 365 days a year. The list of their duties is too long to print here.

The cleaners who you refer to in the ‘real world’ probably work for an agency and clean empty offices and houses and I know for a fact that freelance cleaners get £10-12 per hour.

Is Mr Dix implying that the hard backbreaking work I refer to is not real?
They are proud of the work they do and, try to make the patient’s stay as pleasant as possible. They pay their taxes like everyone else and are worth every penny, ask any doctor or surgeon and they will tell you the hospital couldn’t function without them.

Mr Dix, should save his vindictiveness for those who refuse to work.
He seems to want to penalise and politicise their work, and make them scapegoats for the economic mess we are all in.
170, Le Marais, St Clement.

1
steve medcalf

February 21, 2011 at 4:41 pm

That Man is talking codswallop I had a hip replacement in September and can vouch that they do a fantastic job

S&M

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2
Leah Holmes

February 21, 2011 at 6:14 pm

Personally I’ve always thought hospital cleaners should get paid more. Patient’s lives are in their hands and it is important that the cleaners are all well-trained with a far better than average understanding of hygiene and cleanliness.

Mind you, your average person on the street knows far less about bacteria and viruses than they think they do.

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3
Mark G

February 21, 2011 at 7:38 pm

Why doesn’t John Dix pick on the over paid senior civil servants? £10 an hour is not over paid in Jersey when you take into account cost of living and tax’s. He just wants to be States member and fit right in with them lot living in their mansions.

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4
Dungbeetle

February 21, 2011 at 7:54 pm

Cleaners where I live in the U.K. are paid between £6.50 to £7 per hour, but then the cost of living is a lot less here than it is in Jersey. I think £10 per hour in Jersey is a fair wage for hospital cleaners.

Think of how important their role is; without proper cleaning in hospitals there is the obvious risk of the spread of disease and infection. I imagine it can also be unpleasant having to clear up blood, body tissue, vomit, urine etc., etc.

I seem to recall Mr. Dix was a Centenier and ex-Army officer (the Paras so it was rumoured). He often gives a cogent and reasoned arguement, but on this occasion I can not agree with him.

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5
Spring Heeled Jack

February 22, 2011 at 9:43 am

Hardly a week goes by without Mr Dix pouring scorn on all and sundry. Having a pop at cleaners on a tenner an hour is a bit low. Especially as the big boss there gets between £18 and £26 grand a flipping month depending on what States member has the crayons and note paper that week.
Me thinks that Mr Dix is angling for States stardom himself at the next elections.
Dungbeetle – Mr Dix’s brother Charles is the Centenier and ex-army one.
John is a director of a well known local stationery firm.

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6
Mona Lot

February 22, 2011 at 4:09 pm

John Dix is completely out of touch and should be thouroughly ashamed of himself, Hospital cleaners are achieving more than our clueless Senior Civil Servants who are paid extortionate wages for nothing.

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7
Leah Holmes

February 22, 2011 at 6:03 pm

#4 Good point about the more hideous aspects of the job. One contributor to this website constantly mentions how people in certain areas of finance get paid so much due to market forces (i.e. no-one else wants to do the job), strange how those market forces never apply to jobs like cleaning.

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