By Healthcare Facilities Today

Compliance of hospital staff to basic hand hygiene protocols is the key in preventing healthcare-associated infections, according to Prof. Didier Pittet, MD,  director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center on Patient Safety, University of Geneva Hospitals.

Pittet's presentation was part of a national symposium in the Philippines on hand hygiene and patient safety. The audience included participating chiefs of hospitals, infection control heads and infection control nurses, according to an aricle on the Inquirer website

Organized by the Department of Health and the Aesculap Academy, the symposium provided the participants with a comprehensive overview of the new WHO Guidelines on Hand Hygiene in Healthcare and information on the available tools and resources for its effective implementation. the article said.

Pittet said hand hygiene is key to ensure patient safety and prevent the further spread of diseases, especially now that cases of measles, a virus-caused infection of the respiratory system, have been on the rise. 

Philippine Health Undersecretary Teodoro Herbosa said there is a need for an infection control program to take on emerging infections/threat of pandemic, increasing resistance of pathogens, and the increasing cost of healthcare, according tot the article. 

According to Herbosa, these are the department’s “seven steps to patient safety”:

1. Build a “safety culture,” a culture that is open and fair.

2. Lead and support the hospital staff by establishing a clear and strong focus on patient safety.

3. Integrate risk management activity by developing systems and processes to identify and manage risks.

4. Encourage staff to report incidents.

5. Involve and communicate with patients and the public.

6. Learn and share safety lessons by encouraging staff to analyze how and why incidents happen.

7. Implement solutions to prevent future incidents by changing the practice, process, or system.

Read the article.