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Health worker hand hygiene
10 November 2011
The National Hand Hygiene Initiative was associated with significant improvements in hand hygiene compliance among Australian health care workers over the last two years.
Doctors and other health professionals must continue to be vigilant about hand washing in Australian hospitals, AMA Victoria President Dr Harry Hemley said today.
Dr Hemley made his comments following the publication of new data on hand hygiene compliance in Australian hospitals. A report on outcomes from the first two years of the National Hand Hygiene Initiative was reported today in the Medical Journal of Australia.
The World Health Organisation recommends hand washing after five key moments during patient care. The report shows that overall compliance by health care workers with these hand hygiene recommendations was 68.3%.
“This report shows that there is still work to be done to increase rates of hand washing amongst health care workers,” said Dr Hemley.
“Evidence has shown that the single most effective intervention to reduce the risk of healthcare-associated infection is improving hand hygiene amongst health professionals.
“Hand hygiene has never been more important given the increasing prevalence of super-bugs in Australian hospitals.
“It is important for hospitals and specialist training colleges to incorporate information about hand washing into training and accreditation programs.
“Outside of clinical settings it is also important for members of the public to wash their hands often. Regular hand washing and use of hand sanitiser can help to reduce the spread of infectious disease.
“AMA Victoria will continue to work to raise awareness of the importance of hand washing amongst doctors and the public.”
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