For ten years now it celebrated worldwide Day Hand Hygiene, a simple habit that can save lives. The HLA Group Hospital joins awareness and promoting good hygiene.
The campaign is especially geared to the health sector to prevent the spread of germs in hospitals and patients and the general public to raise awareness of the importance of hand washing in the day.
Dr. Jorge del Diego, national head of Preventive Medicine of Asisa Group, explains why it is so important to this gesture and gives us clues about how germs spread through hands.
What kind of diseases can be transmitted by hands?
Diseases that can be transmitted in a hospital setting through our hands are those known as nosocomial or healthcare-related (IRAS) infections. There is sufficient scientific evidence to recognize hands as the main route of transmission of germs through cross-transmission, cause most of these infections. Therefore, hand hygiene becomes, in this way, the main measure to cut this transmission and avoid these IRAS causing thousands of deaths every day worldwide.
How many times should we wash our hands after day?
It will depend on the activities that we carry out in-hospital network, although the World Health Organization (WHO) and defines, for many years, the 5 key moments for hand hygiene: before and after patient care, before aseptic technique, after possible contact with bodily fluids and after contact with the patient's environment. This can be done with soap and water (hand washing) or aqueous solutions (hand disinfection), each having its own purpose and indications within the hospital setting.
Do we wash our hands properly?
If we talk about technical and compliance with WHO 5 moments, experience and the data clearly suggest that there is still a way to go. You need to know the different techniques of hand hygiene (washing, disinfection and even presurgical) to apply the appropriate procedure at all times and thus respect the 5 times above. I think it is important to note that the gloves never replace hand hygiene. From the Services of Preventive Medicine, we must raise awareness and training of our professionals in both directions (use of gloves and hand hygiene).
Are alcoholic solutions are effective?
They are efficient, effective and efficient. Most water-alcohol solutions currently have an excellent effectiveness against all types of microorganisms, and also it is fast (a few seconds). However, not only have a product with an effective formulation is necessary, if the key is to enhance the properties to invite use. The best product is one that, to be effective, is used.
How hospitals prepare to prevent the spread of disease through contact with your hands? Is there awareness of hand hygiene in Spain?
In Spain we have great specialists and international benchmarks, even at the level of WHO in the field of hygiene. There is no doubt that in recent years much has changed the perception of the importance of this habit, ceasing to be somewhat underrated to become the focus of patient safety policies. Health authorities, health services, scientific societies, etc., have developed specific programs in hygiene, and now no longer means a hospital where professional are not trained in this matter, or do not have access to alcohol solutions at points of patient care. However, once advanced in this theoretical level, we must also advance their practical application and for this, we provide resources to our employees so they can achieve the levels of compliance required by moments of hand hygiene, applying also multimodal strategies that increase their awareness. Strengthening programs observation opportunities / moments of hand hygiene and feed-back of such results to the workers themselves remains undoubtedly one of the basic most effective approaches.
What activities are to be done in hospitals in the group?
During 2015 we had the first opportunity to make a homogeneous training throughout the network of clinics and hospitals HLA Group, and in some of them, have pilot programs to give specific training each time a professional is incorporated to work with us .
Likewise, we carry out the mandatory observations of hand hygiene, to assess our level of compliance with the 5 moments of the WHO. In addition, during last April, we have trained our toilets in the importance of surfaces as reservoirs of germs that can be transmitted through the hands. Next Friday, May 5, the entire HLA Group hospital network will have information stands to raise awareness of the importance of good hand hygiene. In this sense, the Hospital HLA San Carlos Denia offer free samples of alcoholic solutions and inform anyone that needs it. For it will be installed throughout the morning, an information table in the main hall of the hospital complex. Internally, our hospital management program, Greencube, as it has done in recent 3 years, will remind all professionals, each entry key Hand Hygiene, the 5 moments.
