Raigmore Hospital, Inverness, worst in Scotland for health hygiene

This is NOT the headline of this BBC story; you have to read the article quite closely to tease this fact out of the welter of detail.

It is one of three hospitals in Scotland given an 'Amber' grading for their level of compliance with national cleaning specifications:
- Raigmore NHS Trust, Inverness - 83.1 per cent;
- Edinburgh's Royal Infirmary - 84.1 per cent;
- Royal Alexandra Hospital, Paisley - 84.4 per cent.

Douglas Seago, head of facilities management for NHS Highland, which operates Raigmore, said the figures were disappointing and is quoted as stating:

"It was primarily down to the level of monitoring and staff becoming used to a new system. "In June we managed to achieve an 89% compliance and in August we are looking at a 92% level of compliance. "So in quarter two we will be in the green band and we will be achieving the over 90% average."

I do not wish to be unnecessarily cynical (that'll be a first! - Ed.), but Mr Seago's comments remind me of a Soviet-era Industry Minister telling comrades how wonderful everything is and that tractor production is, yet again, breaking new records. Time will tell how successfully the filth has been reduced - a future report, based on externally audited reporting, will with luck bear out his estimates.