Help us to reduce the risk of passing on infections in our hospitals - good hand hygiene

One of our five promises is that patients are treated in clean and safe clinics and hospitals. Part of this means controlling infections and ensuring that our staff use their wealth of knowledge and expertise to be vigilant and work to eliminate infections in our hospitals.

Buckinghamshire Healthcare continues to be one of the best performing trusts in the region, with latest published figures for the financial year 2009/10 showing that we had just 49 cases of C. difficile – the limit set by the Department of Health was 112. Also, with a limit of 14 for cases of MRSA bloodstream infections, we reported 12 during this period, only three of which were acquired in a hospital environment. This is a fantastic achievement for the Trust and demonstrates the hard work and determination by staff to reduce the spread of infection within our organisation. However, we strive for no avoidable infections and ask that the public support us to achieve this.

We have a zero tolerance approach to poor hand hygiene for all staff who work in clinical areas. Our infection control staff actively monitor clinical teams to ensure they are complying with our policy through regular audits. We also actively encourage members of the public to maintain good hand hygiene when visiting our hospitals to ensure that we continue to drive down the rate of infection.

At this time of year, some of the most common infections are norovirus, which is the most likely cause of diarrhoea and vomiting and is highly infectious, and flu. These infections can be passed on in many different environments, for example schools and offices, but people are particularly susceptible to it in hospital because of the close proximity of patients and interaction with others. During the winter months, we have a higher number of cases among our patients than we would during the rest of the year and they spread quickly so it is important that we manage them correctly. When an outbreak of infection occurs in hospital, it is often necessary to close affected wards to help control the outbreak and ensure that patients are treated in appropriate areas to minimise the risk of passing on the viruses. Staff follow strict procedures that ensure the infections are kept to as small an area as possible, which can include wearing special protective equipment. Infected wards are reviewed on a regular basis and undergo a terminal clean once the viruses are no longer present in any staff or patients.  

The most common symptoms of norovirus include:

•   Sudden onset of diarrhoea
•   Sudden onset of vomiting
•   Stomach cramps

If you experience any of these, or any flu like symptoms, it is important that you are symptom free for a period of 48 hours before visiting anyone in hospital or returning to school or work.

One of the most important measures to prevent the spread of infection is to encourage good hygiene - it is very important that staff, patients and visitors wash their hands with soap and water after contact with someone who is ill.

It is vital that anyone who is feeling unwell with gastrointestinal symptoms, vomiting and or diarrhoea, should not visit hospitals as this increases the risk of spreading the infection to patients and staff.

See our hand washing video below that demonstrates how patients and visitors can help reduce the risk of passing on infections in our hospitals.