INFECTION PREVENTION & CONTROL
Combating HCAIs using the latest technology
Tinaz Ranina, Product manager, Infection Prevention & Personal Care at Diversey, UK & Ireland, takes a look at some of the increasingly powerful and effective disinfectants and advanced ‘adjunct technologies’ now available to help hospital cleaning teams in the fight against the ever-more resistant pathogens in healthcare facilities that can cause hospital-acquired infections.
The fight against healthcare associated infections (HAIs) covers many areas, but foremost among these are hand hygiene and surface disinfection. Studies suggest that around 80% of all infectious diseases are spread by touch.1
This can be
through personal contact or touching a contaminated surface. It follows that breaking this chain should help reduce the number of infections.
The link between hand hygiene and the spread of infections was established long ago. Yet there is still much to be done to change the behaviour of individual healthcare workers to optimise compliance with hand hygiene at the recommended points to improve patient safety. The best healthcare sites globally have reduced their infection rates to around 5% through diligence and a rigorous application of best practice. In the UK the average infection rate is nearer to 10%.
The World Health Organization promotes hand hygiene through a number of high-profile initiatives. Its annual ‘Clean Your Hands Day’, for example, was established in 2005, and has been a global success. This, and related WHO programmes, are based around the concept of a multimodal hand hygiene improvement strategy. This incorporates five components or building blocks including system change, training, evaluation, awareness, and an institutional safety climate that lead to long-term and sustainable improvements. This framework is complemented by the WHO’s focus on the five moments of hand hygiene – the critical times when healthcare professionals should wash their hands: before touching a patient; before a procedure; after body fluid exposure; after touching a patient, and after touching patient surroundings. These recommendations can mean a lot
The importance of handwashing in preventing infection is regularly emphasised.
of washing during a normal day. This is not only time-consuming, but conventional soaps can strip natural oils which protect the skin, leading to an increased risk of damage through conditions such as dermatitis. Under these circumstances it is sensible to use an alcohol-based hand sanitiser that kills pathogens faster than soap without removing protective oils. Whatever products are chosen, they must be available and ready to use whenever required. Dispensers should be situated conveniently to encourage regular and proper use. At the same time, they should ideally contain enough product to prolong the interval between refills, and therefore minimise the risk of outages and reduce necessary restocking burdens.
Another way to encourage compliance is to monitor usage. While it is rarely desirable to monitor individuals, it is
This article, entitled ‘Preventing infections through innovation’, first appeared in a special ‘Infection Prevention’ supplement published by HEJ’s sister title, The Clinical Services Journal, in December 2018. HEJ thanks the magazine’s Editor, and the author, for allowing its re-publication in slightly edited form here.
helpful to know how often a particular dispenser has been used, and how much product has been consumed. Knowing how many times a dispenser has been used, and comparing this with the number of patient contacts by the clinical and nursing team, should give a reasonable indication of whether they are complying with agreed standards. If not, additional awareness and training can be provided, and the subsequent change in usage patterns assessed.
Surface disinfection
Surface disinfection is another critical aspect of infection prevention. It is vital to choose the right disinfectants to improve environmental hygiene in healthcare settings. However, not all disinfectants are created equally.
Healthcare cleaning professionals have traditionally chosen disinfectants with chlorine as the active ingredient (usually as bleaches) for cleaning hard surfaces. While widely used, the drawbacks of these formulations are well noted in terms of effectiveness, as well as safety, and there seems to be a gradual shift
October 2019 Health Estate Journal 91
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