No bleach to clean 9 Alicante hospitals

NINE public hospitals in Alicante do not have bleach or other cleaning materials, said head of workers union CCOO-PV Javier Lledo. His claims state that basic services to ensure public health cannot be provided as cleaning staff are washing floors with just water. This statement was made with trade union secretary Pedro Medina at a protest rally on Tuesday at the Coepa headquarters in Alicante.

Manuel Cevera from the Ministry of Health countered this claim by stating: “The Department of Preventative Medicine prohibits the use of bleach in hospitals because it is very aggressive and difficult to eliminate germs, as it is with non-chlorinated detergents.”

CCOO PV also protested the delays in payment of cleaning companies – which in the case of Alicante General Hospital is nearly eight months in arrears – and affects 18,000 workers in the Alicante Province and 48,000 in the region.