Regional press news – this story published 17.6.2000

Under cover story brings results
by HoldTheFrontPage staff

Four thousand new sheets are going into circulation at a hospital after a local paper revealed a severe shortage.

The linen crisis at Gloucestershire Royal Infirmary hit a peak at Bank Holidays and readers flooded The Citizen with complaints.

They told of a lack of sheets, blankets and pillow cases, prompting managers to launch an investigation and promise swift action.

But the hospital still expressed disappointment that people went to the paper instead of getting in touch with the management.

Citizen editor Spencer Feeney retorted in the paper’s leader column: “Doesn’t that show people realise we are the paper that gets things done?”

The linen purchase has increased the hospital’s stock by a third and managers have promised that the shortage will not happen again. They blamed the crisis on an outdated system, under which sheets were laundered by an outside company. This meant only a limited number were available at any one time, and caused extra problems if a delivery was missed.

A hospital insider had told the paper that wards regularly ran out of sheets – and when calls were made to find fresh ones, wards that had them were reluctant to let their hoard go.

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