Preventing infection spread in hospitals

Published: 7-Dec-2016
Infection Control

When it comes to protecting immunocompromised patients from healthcare-associated infections, hand hygiene must be the first line of defence, says Deb Group

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Hospitals bring together hundreds of patients – many of them very vulnerable due to their reduced immunity to infection. This makes hospitals highly sensitive environments where the containment of germs and bacteria needs to be assured at all times, particularly when it comes to protecting patients from healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs), which are currently believed to cost the NHS around £1bn a year.1

Research conducted by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control in 20112 showed that 6.4% of hospital patients – one in 16 – contracted an infection while in hospital. According to the Department of Health, 300,000 patients develop a HCAI in England every year, and 5,000 of those cases prove fatal3.

But this situation isn’t inevitable; on the contrary, it is estimated that 20-40% of all HCAIs could be avoided by communicating and applying existing hand hygiene rules and practices more effectively.4

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