The Canadian Union of Public Employees in Ontario, Canada, is calling on the province to take steps to reduce hospital-acquired infections by increasing funding for hospital housekeeping, according to an article on the Durham Region website.

Louis Rodrigues, first vice-president of the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions which is the hospital wing of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), made the comments during the Oshawa stop of a 20-city tour across Ontario to raise awareness of the issue.

Nicholas Black, a housekeeper at the Temiskaming Hospital, discussed a report commissioned by CUPE that had several recommendations to reduce hospital-acquired deaths including reducing overcrowding, performing a thorough and systematic deep clean of hospitals, intensifying regular cleaning of hospitalsand  redesigning hospitals so patients don’t share washrooms and rooms when they’re infectious. 

The report also celled for increasing the number of infection control and cleaning staff, and encouraging patient and visitor hand hygiene, the article said.

Read the article.