Survey brands Grampian staff worst at hand hygiene
Bosses blame large influx of new staff and medical and nursing students
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Hospital staff in the north-east are the worst in Scotland for washing their hands – and are getting more lax about the strict standards.
New figures show that just 85% of NHS Grampian staff complied with hand hygiene regulations during the last bi-monthly audit, compared with 92% across the country.
The figure was down 7% on the previous audit, and 10% on the two before that when 95% washed their hands as required.
NHS Grampian blamed the figures on a large influx of new staff and students, with a programme of replacing alcohol gel dispensers.
West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine Liberal Democrat MSP Mike Rumbles said the health board had to sort itself out.
“The drop in hand washing compliance at NHS Grampian is all the more unacceptable given the current swine flu pandemic and raised profile of hand hygiene,” he said.
“Non-NHS organisations are taking hand washing incredibly seriously at the moment. Even the Scottish Parliament has disinfectant stands at the entrances now.”
A health board spokes-woman said: “Over the last 18 months NHS Grampian has consistently met and exceeded national hand hygiene targets.
“We are therefore disappointed with these figures.
“We have analysed the reasons behind the temporary drop and are taking steps to ensure our compliance improves and can be sustained in the future.”
She said the audit was conducted in September when large numbers of new staff and medical and nursing students were introduced to wards simultaneously.
“Unfortunately, this seems to have resulted in insufficient reinforcement of our hand hygiene policy,” she said.
“Our hand hygiene dispensers also have been replaced as part of a national procurement process and this may have led to a degree of confusion among staff and visitors about the new method of dispensing.”
The health board plans to hammer home the importance of hand washing with staff training and publicity campaigns.
NHS Tayside slipped 2% to 89%, while NHS Highland climbed 4% to 96%. The island health boards of Shetland, Orkney and Western Isles had compliance ratings of 94%, 95% and 96% respectively.
Staff in Forth Valley were the best in the country, with 99% washing their hands as required.
Nurse consultant in infection prevention and control Sarah Murdoch said the swine flu pandemic has raised public awareness of the importance of “old-fashioned soap and water” and hand gel.
“We have increased our capacity for hand hygiene training,” she said.
“Every ward and department will now have someone who can teach the correct hand washing technique and increase compliance at a local level. This is certainly paying dividends and contributing greatly to improved patient safety.”
Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said NHS Grampian has said its infection control team will step up training for those staff, in particular those who fail to meet standards.
“This latest bimonthly report shows that national hand hygiene compliance by NHS staff remains consistently high at 92%, but there is room for improvement, particularly in some board areas,” she said.
“That’s why I would urge all chief executives to ensure the zero tolerance approach to non-compliance with hand hygiene policies is understood by all NHS staff and is being adhered to.
“Everyone has their part to play in ensuring patients are not exposed to the risk of infection – that means NHS staff, patients, visitors and the general public.”
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