NHS heroes at Southend Hospital’s A&E have to use dirty and dilapidated washing facilities, it has been revealed.

Pictures of a staff toilet and shower facilities show dirty and unusable areas despite the need for medics to maintain high standards of hygiene.

Echo:

Health hazard - tiles have fallen off shower 

Southend Hospital says maintenance staff had to prioritise work during the pandemic and pointed out other toilet and shower facilities were available.

However, work to refurbish the toilet and shower facilities is now a priority, bosses say.

The pictures, passed to the Echo, show broken tiles in a shower and a toilet without a seat with little sign of regular maintenance by hospital management.

Echo:

Grime - paint peeling off dirty walls in medic’s washroom

Staff working long shifts in the busy emergency department throughout the coronavirus outbreak have also had to put up with grubby pipes and peeling walls in the badly neglected facilities.

The issue was raised with the hospital’s facilities department in April and again in May but most repairs have not been carried out weeks later.

The Save Southend NHS campaign group has spoken out over the poor facilities, stressing hygiene standards should be at their highest level, particularly during the current crisis.

A spokesman said: “While we appreciate that the hospital is under immense pressure during the current crisis, ensuring that hygiene standards for staff facilities are adequate is imperative.

“Infection prevention and control and the safety, welfare and comfort for should be prioritised at all times, let alone when in the midst of a pandemic.

“The staff are challenged enough throughout their demanding shifts and deserve a far greater standard of facilities than these pictures show.

“The rapid spread of coronavirus, a huge influx of patients at a fast pace, and the initial widespread shortage of personal protective equipment have exposed frontline health workers to great risk of infection.

“Inadequate toilet facilities can only add to the dangers for medical staff.”

The hospital has blamed the coronavirus outbreak for delays in carrying out maintenance work.

However, it stressed action had now been taken to replace the damaged toilet seat.

A Southend Hospital spokesman said: “Due to Covid-19 works the estates and facilities team have had to prioritise other areas of work.

“During this time, other shower and toilet facilities were and remain available to emergency department staff.

“Still in use, the area is cleaned three times a day and the toilet seat has now been replaced.

“We recognise that the emergency department staff toilet and showers needs major work so they have now been made a priority to be refurbished.”