CLEANING & HYGIENE
A USEFUL ALLY
It is estimated that more than four million cases of Healthcare Acquired Infections (HAIs) are reported in Europe each year, of which 37,000 are fatal. James Taylor, Director of Product Marketing at Chicopee, considers how the right products can help reduce these devastating figures.
Addressing infection prevention requires multiple strategies, including appropriate education and training, proper hand hygiene, monitoring rates of infection, as well as evaluating and improving preventative programmes.
However, whilst such activities can help minimise the risk of infection, a key strategy to successfully combat HAIs is the efficient cleaning of equipment and the general environment. In fact, at least 20% of HAIs are preventable by implementing a coordinated and tightly controlled cleaning regime using well- chosen and effective products.
If you take into consideration that HAIs result in an extra 16 million extra days spent in hospital each year and that the indirect financial losses are estimated to be around €7 billion per annum, finding and using effective
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cleaning solutions should become a major priority.
In many settings the level of cleanliness is often assessed by how clean things look, however visual assessments have been proven to be inadequate. A study in UK hospitals found that 90% of the wards that look clean still contain unacceptable levels of micro-organisms.
What’s more, traditional hospital cleaning cloths and wipes have been shown to potentially spread over 30% of the germs they pick up to the next surface to be wiped.
Even when freshly laundered, traditional cloths can pose a serious cross-contamination risk. A study published in the American Journal of Infection Control found that 93% still contained bacteria that could trigger
HAIs after they have been laundered; proving that laundering is insufficient for the removal of potentially harmful bacteria from reusable cloths.
As the nature of healthcare continues to evolve, to stay ahead of emerging and re-emerging threats, the tools and procedures used for infection prevention and control must also evolve. Enter short-term use Microfibre according to the NHS National Patient Safety Agency’s (NPSA) ‘Revised Healthcare Cleaning Manual’.
Made up of extremely fine composite synthetic fibres that are engineered to provide a large surface area, Microfibre cleaning materials deliver efficient removal of microscopic particles.
However, not all Microfibre cloths are the same. Some are manufactured with as little as 20% Microfibre content,
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