Hand hygiene compliance in healthcare workers

SummaryThe ‘clean-your-hands’ campaign has now been introduced into hospitals in England but it was initially piloted in six acute trusts. The campaign was multi-modal and aimed to improve hand hygiene compliance. This review reports the findings from one of the trusts involved in the pilot. The campaign consisted of a toolkit that included placing alcohol hand rub beside patients, along with posters and supporting marketing materials. A guide to implementation and a strategy aimed at increasing patient information and empowerment was also initiated. In order to assess the success of the campaign, audits of hand hygiene in healthcare workers were conducted over a six-month period. Additionally, data were obtained from staff surveys, patient surveys, usage levels of alcohol hand rub and interviews with the on-site lead. The local campaign indicated that a multi-modal campaign induced a marked increase in hand hygiene compliance (from 32% to 63%), with 74% of staff reporting increased compliance throughout the campaign. Usage of alcohol hand rub increased by 184%. The majority of patients indicated that the public should be actively involved in helping healthcare staff to improve their hand hygiene.