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INFECTION PREVENTION AND CONTROL


steps and the dissemination of best practice.” Steven Barclay, Minister of State for


the Department of Health and Social Care acknowledged the potential of electronic monitoring to reduce infection rates and save money.


He said: “One theme of the debate was whether the Government are doing enough to drive forward the use of technology. I recognise the limits of direct observation and how behavioural change may respond to those. That is why the Government are actively looking at the extent to which technology can facilitate this area. “We have carried out an initial


assessment; indeed, the NHS Improvement director of infection prevention and control, Dr Ruth May, and her team recently visited the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, which has been trialling an electronic monitoring system to make an initial assessment of that. Their feedback is that the system is reliant on existing technology, and that many IT systems would not be able to support that.” Steven Barclay acknowledged that a number of practical issues need to be addressed before one the technology could be rolled out, but reassured the House that Dr May and her team are actively looking at that issue. “We all recognise the impact, not just on patient safety, but on the cost of infections and unnecessary deaths,” he asserted. “We are actively looking at the issue of technology. “Hand hygiene is an important issue, direct


observation is not an appropriate means of monitoring hand hygiene compliance, whilst technology offers a clear way of improving compliance and reducing infections.” John Hines, director of research and development at Deb, said: “The debate proved a huge success and it was great to see MPs and Health Ministers joining forces to ensure infection prevention remains high on the Government’s list of priorities. “Technology, if adopted in the right way, creates an opportunity to improve patient safety and reduce the £1 billion cost associated with healthcare associated


infections. Now it’s time to take further action by working closely with the Government to ensure more hospitals are aware of the benefits of electronic monitoring systems. “We want to see such systems replacing direct observation audits, freeing nurses time and paving the way for a safer NHS.”


What’s next?


Using direct observation as a means of monitoring hand hygiene is no longer appropriate or effective if we want to improve hand hygiene and reduce the number of infections in our hospitals. Using technology, if adopted in the right


way, offers an excellent opportunity improve patient safety and reduce the £1bn in associated costs of hospital infections. In June 2018, Health Secretary and South West Surrey MP, Jeremy Hunt, gave


a statement to the House of Commons setting out the Government’s intention to increase the NHS England budget by an average of 3.4% annually until 2023, following Theresa May’s announcement of a long-term funding settlement. The announcement comes ahead of the NHS’s 70th birthday and after months of intensive negotiations between Theresa May, Philip Hammond, and Jeremy Hunt, the latter of whom has been lobbying heavily for the long-term increase in funds. Jeremy Hunt stated that “this is more than just a plan to get finances back on track. In its 70th year, we also want our NHS to make strides towards being the safest, highest- quality healthcare system in the world”. We can only hope that some of these funds will be invested into electronic monitoring technology as a means of implementing effective hand hygiene methods across hospitals.


As the NHS celebrates another milestone, now is the time to implement the changes necessary to adopt electronic monitoring systems as the appropriate hand hygiene compliance measurement tool. In the next 10 years, policy makers, healthcare professionals and anyone involved in patient safety must come together as one and truly embrace technology in order to save patients’ lives.


For more information about the Westminster debate on ‘Raising standards of infection prevention and control in the NHS’, visit: https://hansard.parliament.uk/ Commons/2018-05-15/debates/395F 355A-2F8A-4175-8408-D9AB8 B2AA67C/InfectionPreventionAndControl


54 I WWW.CLINICALSERVICESJOURNAL.COM SEPTEMBER 2018


CSJ


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