The Western Health and Social Care Trust (Western Trust) Infection Prevention and Control Team have supported the Global Annual Hygiene Day to remind staff, patients and visitors of the importance of good hand hygiene.
The message across all healthcare facilities in the Western Trust area is that clean hands can save lives. The focus of this year’s campaign is the promotion of hand hygiene in preventing Sepsis in health care.
Wendy Cross, Western Trust Head of Infection Prevention and Control said: “Hand hygiene is relevant to all healthcare workers, patients and their families at every single health care encounter. Practising routine hand hygiene remains the simplest, most effective method of preventing infections.
"Cleaning your hands is extremely effective in controlling the spread of germs including those resistant to antibiotics and in the prevention of life threatening conditions such as Sepsis.
"Sepsis is a global health problem that can be prevented and which can affect those in health care as well as in communities.
Ms Cross added: “We wish to remind all staff to wash their hands or use alcohol hand sanitiser before and after each patient contact and encourage all visitors to do the same before entering and leaving a patient’s room or ward area.
"The public has an important role to play by not visiting the hospital if they are feeling unwell, particularly if they have diarrhoea and/or vomiting. Visitors are advised that if they are unwell or if they have diarrhoea and/or vomiting that they do not visit until symptoms have stopped for at least 48 hours.
“Those who are visiting are asked to thoroughly wash their hands before and after visiting, for their own protection as well as for the prevention of the spread of infection to patients.”
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