This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Public role in controlling infection
07/11/2006
The public has a key role to play in helping reduce the spread of infection, Health Minister Andy Kerr today as part of this year's Infection Control Awareness Week.
He visited the Hilltop Nursery in Glasgow to discuss the importance of hand hygiene with nursery staff and he participated in a hand washing demonstration with an infection control nurse and children at the nursery.
Also, later this week, the Minister will take part in a World Health Organization event on infection control to talk about Scotland's comprehensive work to tackle healthcare associated infections (HAI).
Mr Kerr said:
"Clean hands are safe hands. The importance of good hand hygiene cannot be overestimated. It is recognised as being one of the single most effective measures in the prevention and control of infections.
"Hands can carry a range of bugs, including healthcare associated infections like MRSA, illness such as food poisoning and viruses like flu. Washing hands regularly and thoroughly will dramatically reduce the spread of these bugs. Good hand hygiene is particularly crucial to preventing and controlling the spread of infections like MRSA in the NHS.
"We will launch a national £2.5 million hand hygiene campaign early next year as part of our wider infection control work. Our main aim is to achieve a widespread and long-term change in attitudes and behaviour, which will improve hand hygiene practice and reduce avoidable illness.
"The advertising campaign will be aimed at the general public, and particularly young children, who are the healthcare workers and parents of tomorrow. The campaign will also focus on healthcare settings and hospital visitors.
"We have reminded hospital patients and visitors through the NHS and You public information leaflet that they should speak to the Sister or Charge Nurse if they have any concerns about hygiene and cleanliness on the ward. Infection control is everybody's business - managers, staff, visitors and patients - and we should all play a part in driving down infection rates.
"I applaud the work that the Infection Control Nurses Association is doing to raise awareness of these issues through its Infection Control Awareness Week."
This week the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Patient Safety Challenge event will take place at the WHO headquarters in Geneva.
It brings together 250 participants from around the world including senior government officials, professional and academic associations and civil society organisations.
Measures in place or planned by the Executive include:
- Every sister/charge nurse is now required to undertake Cleanliness Champions training in infection control and every student nurse and doctor in Scotland will have the same training built into their studies. To date, around 2,400 NHS staff have been trained as cleanliness champions
- Alcohol-based hand rubs are available by every frontline bed in Scotland
- Increased infection control capacity within the NHS and a reinforced system of accountability for Health Boards. This includes the introduction of the new post of Infection Control Manager - a senior role with direct access to the Chief Executive - and an increase in the number of Infection Control Nurses employed by the NHS by around 80 per cent since 2003
- A major new survey - the most advanced in the world - to identify and track down the full range of hospital bugs. This will enable more effective control measures and monitoring of progress. The full results of this survey, being carried out by Health Protection Scotland will be available in early summer 2007
- Compulsory monitoring of compliance with cleaning standards in hospitals using a traffic light alert system (red - under 70 per cent compliance with cleanliness standards, amber - over 70 per cent and green - over 90 per cent)
- A National Education and Training Framework for Domestic Assistants to make sure they get the education and training they need to enable them to carry out their work to the highest standard
- Code of Practice for staff to follow to maintain high standards of cleanliness
- Guidance for hospitals on the prudent use of antibiotic prescribing