WHEN jumbo toilet rolls brought complaints at Burnley hospitals, managers decided to investigate.

The health trust set up a special working group of nurses and other "front line staff" to find out just why the tissue was too thin and the dispensers were forever jamming.

And the committee agreed to test rolls from other outlets on three wards at Burnley and Rossendale hospitals.

Now trust bosses have decided to spend an extra £4,000 a year bringing in a new firm to provide stronger paper and better dispensers.

"We had many complaints from both staff and patients after the national supply contract moved to a major supplier," said trust hotel services manager Stuart Bloor.

"The tissue was too thin and often torn into very small pieces which just wasn't satisfactory.

"The company responded by making modifications, but these were disappointing so we decided to set up a small working group to sort things out."

Mr Bloor, who says the trust uses enough toilet roll each year to circle the world, added that special trials of the new two-ply rolls had been successful.

"Everyone seems satisfied with the new system which will be introduced to all our premises," he said.

Previous news story

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.