Can making the NHS cleaner slow the spread of disease?

By Jonathan R. Goodman, Research Associate, Public Health, University of Cambridge

Several weeks ago, I visited a local NHS urgent care centre with my toddler on what might be called a semi-annual pilgrimage related to having a child in nursery. Owing to what is now a typical three- or four-hour wait, during which he made a recovery, I had the time to notice the hospital’s waiting room cleaning practices. They amounted to someone pushing a mop around the floor and in the process moving, rather than removing, various fluids and items that had probably amassed over the preceding several hours.

About 36 hours later, our toddler woke up with a stomach bug. The cleaning…

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