Toilet isolation lifted this morning

There have been no new reports of residents being unwell with diarrhoea and vomiting for over 36 hours.

This morning, as each toilet block is cleaned, the yellow triangle and green tick signs will be removed and all bathrooms will be back in normal use for everyone except:

• on the first floor, the single toilet next to room 128; and
• on the second floor, the single toilet next to room 228.

These two toilets will be for the exclusive use of people who have had any diarrhoea and/or vomiting within the last 48 hours.

If you have had diarrhoea and/or vomiting within the last 48 hours, we ask that you please only use one of these two toilets, until you have been free from symptoms for 48 hours.

We should be able to return these two toilets to normal use tomorrow or Wednesday, provided no one else becomes unwell.

Food poisoning investigation

The pattern of cases of diarrhoea & vomiting so far is more suggestive of person-to-person spread than of food poisoning, but we always conduct a full investigation into food safety whenever there is an outbreak of this type of illness in Hall.

The catering team will send food samples for analysis if there is any food left from Thursday night, which is when most people became unwell. 

It is also really helpful if anyone who is unwell sees their GP and has a stool sample sent for analysis. This is the only sure way to determine what the cause of this illness is.

Finally, we ask that everyone who has been affected completes this form and sends it to info.connaught@london.ac.uk or hands a printed copy to the Hall Manager on Monday morning:

connaught-hall.org.uk/documents/AllegedFoodPoisoningReport.doc

D&V: Fewer notifications in last 24 hours

Only two new notifications of people being unwell with diarrhoea and vomiting have come through in the last 24 hours. If there are no more notifications overnight tonight, we may be able to reduce the number of toilets reserved for sick people on Sunday morning.

It is extremely important that if you are unwell with diarrhoea and vomiting today - or if you have been in the last two days, but haven't told us yet - that you tell us by email. If we don't have accurate numbers and locations of those who are sick, we cannot make a proper assessment of when to relax the isolation precautions, and we cannot help you individually if we don't know you're unwell!

We need you to tell us by email: not in person, telephone, Facebook, or any other means. This helps us to keep an accurate log and ensures that everyone who needs to know does know in a timely manner. 

So if you are or have been unwell in the last two days, please send an email to both wardens.team@connaught-hall.org.uk and info.connaught@london.ac.uk. Please send an email even if you have already told a member of staff verbally or by some other means.

In your email, please mention:

• your name and room number;
• what are your symptoms? (e.g. diarrhoea, vomiting, fever?);
• when did your symptoms first start?;
• did you eat in the dining hall at Connaught Hall on Thursday night, and if so, what did you eat?
• do you need any practical help from us right now?

There is lots of information about this outbreak, and tips on how to look after yourself if you are diarrhoea and/or vomiting, at connaught-hall.org.uk/vomiting.html. 

Updates are being posted here on my blog. You can see them all at connaughthall.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/vomiting%20February%202014.

Getting food from the dining hall if you are unwell

If you are currently unwell with diarrhoea and/or vomiting, or have been within the last 48 hours, please try to limit the number of visitors you have and don't eat in the dining hall.

We have asked the kitchen to let your friends collect food for you over the weekend, and bring it to your room. Please get in touch with a friend and ask them to collect your meals for you.

If we stop the spread of this illness promptly now, it will be much easier to contain. We all have a part to play but isolating ourselves if we are sick, helping friends, and making sure we all wash our hands with soap and water frequently.

Handwashing

Washing your hands with soap & water is the most important thing you can do to prevent the spread of illnesses like flu and norovirus.

It is really important that you wash your hands with soap and water frequently, and ALWAYS:

• after using the bathroom;
• after coughing, sneezing, or vomiting;
• after contact with someone who is unwell;
• before eating or preparing food.

Full information about self-care and handwashing, etc, at http://www.connaught-hall.org.uk/vomiting.html.

Second-floor men's toilets

I have agreed an action plan with the Hall Manager for dealing with the regular soiling of the second-floor men's toilets. The main points are covered in these posters, which is prominently displayed in that toilet block:

Please get in touch if you have any suggestions or concerns about this.

Update on second-floor men's toilets

We have seen with increased frequency in the last few weeks these toilets being left in a very unhygienic condition. The seat, lid, floor, and walls have been soiled in one or more cubicles almost daily.

The problem was brought to my attention when I saw a post on the Hall's (unofficial) Facebook group. It is worth remembering that the Hall cannot guarantee that we will always see posts like this (the Hall Management team are not on Facebook, and most complaints are about facilities, which are the responsibility of management rather than me or the Senior Members). Please use our suggestion box - suggestions@connaught-hall.org.uk - to raise complaints or ideas with us. You can also visit the Hall Management office during working hours, or speak with me at an open office session or whenever you see me around the Hall. You may have noticed I am currently consulting on how you would like to send us feedback. Take the survey here: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/hallcomms.

Toilets, facilities, and cleaning are properly a matter for the Hall Management team and I, as Warden, do not have any direct control over this. However, this matter raises a number of welfare, cultural, medical, and possibly disciplinary issues: these all fall within my area of responsibility and expertise. So I have formulated some questions and considerations that need to be borne in mind here and I will be using these to help the Hall Management team fulfill their responsibility to keep the toilets safe and clean:

• The soiling is with type 6 stool. This is not normal stool and could indicate a serious medical problem such as inflammatory bowel disease if it persists for as long as it has.

 

• The pattern of soiling suggests the person is not using the toilet normally by sitting on the seat. This could be a cultural difference or concern about hygiene.

 

• It is obvious to anyone that the toilet is being left in an unsatisfactory state. The person responsible is doing so either deliberately or because there are no facilities to clean up after himself.

 

• This person may have developmental or psychological issues around toilet use, or some physical disability that makes it difficult to use a standard toilet normally.

 

• If the problem persists despite interventions to address these hygiene, welfare, and medical matters, it becomes a disciplinary matter. We will need other users of these facilities to help us identify who is responsible.

I hope to be able to publicise a final, joined-up plan to deal with this situtation today or tomorrow, following a meeting with the Hall Manager at 3pm.

Please keep us informed about any change (or no change) in the situation.