HOSPITAL bosses have launched an investigation in to cleanliness at Colchester General Hospital.
It follows a complaint from a patient about the condition of toilets in Langham Ward, who said faeces were left for more than four hours despite being reported to staff.
Granville Wilson, 58, made the complaint after a six day stay at the hospital last month.
He also said another toilet was in a similar state and left uncleaned for over an hour.
A spokesman from the trust which runs the hospital said it was looking into the complaint but he maintained that in general toilets were checked and cleaned on a regular basis.
Mr Wilson, of Patmore Road, Colchester said: “I went to use one of the toilets and there was mess everywhere. I reported it to the nurses but it took about four and a half hours before it was cleaned up. Every time I got up to use it, it was still there.
“The nurse said it takes a while because it has to be reported to the cleaning team.
“A different toilet was the same and took more than an hour to be cleaned.”
Mr Granville, who works as an outside caterer, also said there was dried blood on the floor near his bed which had not been washed for two days.
“I have been in and out of hospital four or five times in the last year and it was fine,” he said. “I’m not saying the nurses were not good but there should be more assertive care.
“It should have been cleaned up straight away or at least within half an hour.”
A spokesman from Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust said: “We have received a formal complaint into cleanliness issues on Langham Ward and will respond in full to the complainant as soon as our investigation has been completed.
“While we obviously cannot pre-judge the investigation, in general terms toilets are checked regularly for cleanliness by both nursing and cleaning staff.
“If they are found to be dirty, these staff will rectify any issues as a matter of priority.”
The Trust, which runs both Colchester General and Essex County hospitals, is currently being investigated for “higher than expected” mortality rates.
But trust chief executive Dr Gordon Coutts has issued reassurances and said the mortality calculator failed to take into account levels of deprivation, palliative care and the age of the local population, while a large number of the deaths were among end of life patients.
A recent inspection by health watchdog the Care Quality Commission (CQC) found the Trust was meeting expected standards in four out of six key areas but was told to improve in the two others.
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