Cleaner hands cut infections

Patient safety officer Sharon Burke said hand hygiene was vital for infection control and there had been room for improvement at the hospital against national benchmarks.

‘The hand hygiene compliance improvement project has been a tremendous success and the team are really happy to have our efforts acknowledged through the WA Health Awards,’ Ms Burke said.

‘By displaying the compliance rates and putting hand hygiene in the spotlight, we have increased our average compliance rate from about 55 per cent to above 80 per cent.

‘The national average is about 70 per cent, so the results are a fantastic testament to the commitment of our staff to providing top quality health care to our patients.’

Infection control clinical nurse specialist Lisa Summers said there was significant evidence to support improvement in hand hygiene practices among healthcare workers resulted in reduced rates of patient infection and cross transmission.

Award winners will be announced at the WA Health Conference and Awards in November.