This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Hospital hygiene guide
25/09/2003
Guidance for all NHS staff on the management of
hygiene and Healthcare Associated Infection (HAI) was
published today by the Health Minister Malcolm
Chisholm.
The first ever Code of Practice for the Management of
Hygiene and HAI has been developed by the HAI Taskforce and
issued today for consultation. and tThe Minister has asked
that it be impimplemented as interim guidance from
today.
The Code outlines what is expected from staff
working throughout NHSScotland at ward level, in
clinical settings, supervisory level and senior
management. The document covers a range of issues which
staff should be aware of when it comes to managing HAI,
including:
Compliance with good hygiene and
infection control practices;
Ensuring NHS staff are educated in
relevant HAI issues including having an
explicit strategy for continuing professional
development for HAI;
Patients, carers, relatives and the public
being provided with high quality information
on the risks of HAI and how it is being
dealt with;
The use of high quality equipment which is
maintained in a way that minimises the
risks of HAI;
Setting out practical steps which staff
can take to ensure a safe environment for
patients;
Ensuring a safe physical environment for
patients to be treated in, particularly the
cleanliness of facilities.
Launching the Code the Minister said:
"Clean hospitals and the highest standards of
infection control are an absolute priority for me, the
Executive and NHSScotland because the public rightly
expects high quality care in clean, safe
hospitals.
"This Code of Practice contains specific guidance
on staff education, compliance management, cleaning,
basic ward equipment, patient information and
prevention and control of infection guidance. It should
be disseminated to all staff to ensure that everyone
has a basic knowledge of managing HAI.
"I am pleased that all staff groups have been
involved in the creation of the code. This is not a top
down initiative. It is a Code created by NHSScotland
for NHSScotland. It has taken best practice from across
the service with the aim of communicating it to staff
so that best practice can become common
practice.
"We have also established a patient involvement
communication team to help ensure the public are
involved in implementation, monitoring and reviewing of
all the work associated with the taskforce, including
compliance with the Code of Practice.
"Cultural change is the objective and not a quick
fix. Over time I want to see a fundamental change in the
way we do things inScotland's hospitals.
"And that fundamental change is relevant to
everyone because prevention and control of infection
and hygiene, particularly hand washing, is everyone's
responsibility. Everyone has a duty of care to patients
but also to themselves and their colleagues."
An estimate of the cost of HAI inScotlandis £180 million a year or380,000 bed days lost.
A major programme of work to improve the prevention
and control of HAIwas laid out in the Executive's Action Plan on HAI,
published in October 2002. This programme is being actioned
by the Scottish HAI Taskforce, chaired by the Chief Medical
Officer, Dr Mac Armstrong.
The remit of the Taskforce is:
To co-ordinate the development and
implementation of the HAI Action Plan;
To review the progress in its implementation
across the NHS inScotland;
To monitor levels of HAI and assess the
impact on them of control measures;
To take forward amendments to the Action
Plan or its component initiatives; and
To report on progress to the Health
Minister and, annually through the CMO's
report, to the public at large.