https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/qs61/chapter/introduction https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1564025/ https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(07)70241-4/fulltext
The key to patient protection
Chris Wakefield from GOJO Industries-Europe discusses what can be done to strengthen hand hygiene compliance in a healthcare environment.
Germs thrive and spread in places where people come into constant contact with each other – and hospitals and healthcare facilities are more susceptible to this than many other environments, with their constant flow of patients, visitors and staff.
An estimated 300,000 patients a year in England acquire a healthcare- associated infection (HCAI) as a result of care within the NHS, however good hand hygiene has been proven to reduce HCAIs by up to 50%.
Infections, particularly those displaying antimicrobial resistance, present a major threat to public health. Indeed, dangerous pathogens are everywhere, and can live on surfaces for days, weeks and even months. C.Diff spores, for example, can live up to five months. Furthermore, it has been reported that a patient’s bacteria contaminates surfaces in their surrounding area, and that you may have a 50/50 chance of picking up a dangerous pathogen anytime you touch anything or anyone in a hospital.
This makes for worrying reading, especially when you factor in the growing number of infections that display antimicrobial resistance (AMR) these days. However, there is a proven solution which is highly effective: hand washing or sanitising. A multitude of studies published in the last 20 years have proved that this simple act helps to prevent serious infections from spreading, and to reduce healthcare associated infections (HCAIs) by up to 50%.
Reducing the HCAI rates not only benefits patients – the potential financial benefits are also significant. A report by the National Audit Office (NAO) estimated that a reduction in the rates of MRSA bloodstream infections saved the NHS in England between £45–59m in treatment costs between 2003/4 and 2008/9. It also identified that by reducing the rate of C. difficile infections, between £97-204m was saved in treatment costs between 2006/7 and 2007/8.
Today, hand hygiene systems are widely seen across healthcare facilities. However, despite being simple, low-cost and highly effective, this method of infection prevention relies on compliance and behavioural change to be successful. As a founder member of the World Health
34 | HEALTHCARE HYGIENE
Organization (WHO) Private Organizations for Patient Safety group, GOJO is a strong advocate of the ‘total solution’ approach to making hand hygiene second nature to everyone in a healthcare setting. Healthcare workers already make good hand hygiene a part of their daily lives, but visitors and patients themselves must be reminded to do this too.
To successfully change
behaviour, the GOJO total solution approach recognises and combines three key
strategies to influence behaviour: Accessibility Handwashing facilities must be
accessible and dispensers easy to use. The WHO recommends that an adequate number of
appropriately positioned hand hygiene facilities should be readily available at the point of care. The correct choice and positioning is crucial to influencing hand hygiene behaviour, particularly in busy hospital settings where staff wash their hands repeatedly throughout their shift.
Technologically advanced formulations
The high frequency with which healthcare workers wash or sanitise their hands means that the formulations must be gentle yet effective against germs, complying with key hospital norms EN 1500, EN 14476 and EN 12791.
Reminders and advice
Signage, posters and other visual displays can be very effective as a prompt, especially at key germ hot-spots such as washrooms and waiting areas. Good hand hygiene companies can offer sound advice on the most effective approaches, as well as provide materials, based on their knowledge and market insight.
The effective prevention of problems such as HCAIs and superbugs in hospitals requires education, awareness of good hand hygiene behaviour and its consequences for patient protection. To be truly successful, a hand hygiene programme needs to combine this education and awareness with good aesthetics, accessibility and ease of use, whilst being equipped with pleasant and effective hygienically advanced formulations.
www.gojo.com
twitter.com/TomoCleaning
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