Hand hygiene
Handwashing is one of the most effective measures of reducing hospital-acquired infections.
All staff, patients, relatives and other visitors to Chelsea and Westminster Hospital are asked to wash their hands or use the alcohol hand gel available both before and after visiting clinical areas such as wards and departments.
Monthly audits of staff compliance with hand hygiene procedures are carried out by Infection Control Link Professionals — those staff responsible for infection control in their area of the hospital.
Completion of these monthly audits is not a national requirement and, therefore, there are no statistics to compare our performance with other hospitals.
Hand hygiene audit results are updated here on a monthly basis.
Current performance—% of staff complying with hand hygiene procedures
| Month | % compliance rate |
|---|---|
| Jan 2013 | 97% |
Previous performance—hand hygiene compliance rate
2012
| Month | % compliance rate |
|---|---|
| Dec | 96% |
| Nov | 97% |
| Oct | 95% |
| Sep | 97% |
| Aug | 97% |
| Jul | 95% |
| Jun | 94% |
| May | 91% |
| Apr | 94% |
| Mar | 94% |
| Feb | 92% |
| Jan | 96% |
2011
| Month | % compliance rate |
|---|---|
| Dec | 95% |
| Nov | 95% |
| Oct | 94% |
| Sep | 96% |
| Aug | 94% |
| Jul | 95% |
| Jun | 93% |
| May | 94% |
| Apr | 92% |
| Mar | 92% |
| Feb | 90% |
| Jan | 88% |
