Taking Infections Seriously in Scotland: Wash Your Hands or Lose Your Job
I follow one Twitterer called Superbug (MRSA_blog on Twitter) who has alerted us to the gauntlet being thrown in the war against hospital acquired infections (HAIs).
The National Health Service of Scotland has decreed that healthcare workers must wash their hands, or risk losing their jobs. Zero tolerance for workers who forget or refuse.
A reminder for the reason for handwashing: it saves lives. Depending on whose statistics you're reading, in hospitals alone, tens of thousands of lives would be saved if patients didn't get MRSA, D. Diff or other infections, most of which are passed by healthcare workers who don't wash their hands.
It seems that a year ago, the hand-washing compliance rate was at 79% in Scotland. At that point, the government decreed it must improve to 90%, and it did. The most recent decree came as a result of six babies who were infected with MRSA.
As a point of comparison, even the best hospitals in the US show handwashing compliance rates around 70%.
Will this clear up all cases of MRSA in Scottish hospitals? No, of course not. But it's a good start, easy to do, and no matter what the professionals tell you about hospital acquired infections -- they can take the time to wash and sanitize their hands. Why shouldn't they?
And why can't we do that in the USA?
Are you on Twitter? Follow me at www.twitter.com/TrishaTorrey.
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Comments
There is a big difference between ability and willingness. We all, including doctors and other healthcare providers, have the ability to maintain the handwashing regimen but aren’t always willing. I know many will say it just skips their mind or they’re so busy they forget. Others may say that they don’t have time because their patient loads are too big…that’s not really a reason, it’s simply an excuse.
The truth is that many simply don’t think about the ramifications of their actions until it impacts someone they know. (again this is not a universal or absolute) I know that companies have employees take an ethics or diversity training. Why can’t hospitals do this training for employees related to infection rates. This isn’t only the medical staff, but every employee who takes a step in the hospital. Then they should be mandated to sign an affadavit saying they understand the information and that they also understand that violation of this code of conduct will result in disciplinary action, even possible dismissal.
There are other factors involved as to why there is no zero tolerance policy but we don’t have that much time, at this moment.