Southampton leading the way in infection control

As part of hand hygiene awareness week, University Hospital Southampton has revealed that infection rates have plummeted as a result of the hospital’s good hand hygiene education.

Keeping your hands clean is the simplest and most effective way to prevent the spread of illness, and educating staff and patients of the simplicity and effectiveness of it has led to a dramatic decrease on serious infections on site. In 2005/6 there were 92 cases of MRSA bloodstream infection contracted at University Hospital Southampton, compared to the two that were recorded in the last year. Additionally, rates of C-difficile infection have dropped with 741 cases confirmed in 2005/6 falling to 34 cases in 2017/18.

As part of the national hand hygiene initiative, a team of University Hospital Southampton staff have been talking to patients and staff about how important it is to keep your hands clean, distributing hand hygiene goodies in the process.

Dr Graeme Jones, Southampton’s lead consultant in infection prevention and control, said: “It is so simple but easy to forget so our job is to raise awareness and make it easy and accessible for people to adopt good hand hygiene. That means having visible reminders and hand gel dispensers at strategic points alongside regular awareness events like this one.”