Scottish Government
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NHS hand hygiene targets

NHS compliance with hand hygiene rules has risen by 19 per cent in a year to 87 per cent according to a report published today.

Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said that despite the 'excellent progress', staff need to maintain their efforts to reach the target of at least 90 per cent compliance by November this year.

The figure was revealed in the second audit report prepared by Health Protection Scotland (HPS). It follows work carried out by specially-trained Hand Hygiene Local Health Board Coordinators (LHBCs), who monitored hand washing routines by staff in hospitals across Scotland.

Ms Sturgeon said:

"Good hand hygiene is widely acknowledged as being one of the most important ways of preventing avoidable Healthcare Associated Infections (HAI).

"This second audit report shows NHS boards right across Scotland are making huge strides towards reaching the target and I want to applaud the efforts of all NHS staff in reaching this milestone.

"However, although this rate of progress is very encouraging, boards should not be complacent.

"It is not just about reaching the target of at least 90 percent hand hygiene by November 2008, but also about sustaining and improving on this level of compliance year-on-year.

"Ultimately, NHS Boards should be setting the highest standards possible - not just in hand-washing, but in the standard of hospital cleanliness - so the public can be confident we are doing all we can to keep our hospitals free from infection.

"The tougher hand hygiene target is just one of a range of actions we are taking forward to drive down rates of HAI.

"Our new HAI Delivery Plan and MRSA screening programme will be backed by an investment of 54 million pounds over the next three years and I want to see considerable progress made by NHS boards in bringing down HAI rates from those shown in the Scottish HAI Point Prevalence Survey published last July.."

The HPS report reveals that compliance with the hand hygiene target went up by 19 percent from February 2007, when it stood at 68 percent, to 87 percent at the end of February 2008.

The increase in compliance moves Scotland's overall compliance rate out of the 'amber', or partially compliant zone (between 75 percent and 84 percent) and into 'green' status (more than 85 percent).

All NHS Boards are now working towards the target of achieving at least 90 percent hand hygiene compliance by November 2008. To help NHS Boards attain this target, HPS will step up their monitoring regime and publish quarterly audits from June this year.

Last month, the Scottish Government announced funding of £7 million for an MRSA pilot screening programme in 2008/2009 in three health boards: NHS Ayrshire & Arran, NHS Grampian and NHS Western Isles. If successful, the pilot programme will lead to screening programmes being introduced on a national basis from 2009/10.

The first-ever Scottish Point Prevalence Survey, published last July, indicated a rate of HAI prevalence in Scottish acute hospitals of 9.5 per cent and 7.3 per cent for community hospitals. The survey also revealed the real costs of HAI in Scotland, in terms of both harm to patients and consumption of valuable healthcare resources (£183 million).

Related Information

http://www.hps.scot.nhs.uk/news/spdetail.aspx?id=147

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