Hand Hygiene Promoted at East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust

The Trust’s Infection Prevention and Control team has been raising awareness of the importance of hand hygiene to prevent health care associated infection as part of World Hand Hygiene Day.

The banner headline for the day, organised by the World Health Organisation, was “It’s in your hands – prevent sepsis in health care”. The call to action aimed at staff, patients and visitors was to urge everyone to focus on the fight against the spread of sepsis with good hand hygiene and infection prevention and control.

Teams from across the Trust showed their commitment by holding cake sales and designing their own posters and murals to display in their different areas of work, to promote the importance of hand hygiene to visitors, patients and staff.

Silvia Gladstone, Infection Prevention and Control Specialist Nurse, said: “Hand hygiene is the most important weapon we have against the spread of infection.  It was great to get so many people to sign up to commit to good hand hygiene. Good hand washing with soap and warm water or using the hand foam can help reduce the spread of infections. We need to fight infection together as part of our fight against antibiotic resistance so it is vital that visitors help us too when they come to our hospitals and health centres.”

When visiting a friend or relative in hospital or other environment where healthcare is provided, people are advised to:

• Avoid visiting if you are unwell, e.g. with diarrhoea and vomiting
• Use the hand foam which can be found at the entrances to wards and departments when entering and leaving
• Remind staff to clean their hands when caring for their loved ones
• Remember to wash your hands when you have been to the bathroom
• If you are caring for a loved one with symptoms of diarrhoea and /or vomiting, wash your hands with soap and water.