Hospital hygiene has been a priority area since the inception of the HSE. To date the following initiatives have taken place:

• Hand-Washing Poster Campaign 'Clean Hands Save Lives' September 2005, a further supply of posters was made available in summer 2006
• S.A.R.I. documents, 'Guidelines for Hand Hygiene in Irish Health Care Settings' &  'The Control and 'Prevention of MRSA in Hospitals and in the Community'  - September  2005
• Hand-Washing Week 24th - 28th of October 2005; posters, stickers, pens and patient  information leaflets were distributed to all acute hospitals and to all other  facilities that requested supporting material in advance of hand washing week
• Launch of 1st National Hygiene Audit Thursday 3rd of November 2005
• Launch of the 2nd National Hygiene Audit Thursday 13th July 2006

Hygiene audit

It is clear from the results of the second national hospital audit that significant work has been carried out at hospital and national level. Almost every hospital increased its overall score following the first audit, with some of the most significant improvements being shown by those hospitals that recorded 'poor' scores in the first audit.

• Thirty two hospitals were in the 'good' category in the second audit compared to  five in the first audit.
• Nineteen hospitals were in the 'fair' category compared to twenty three in the first  audit.
• Only two hospitals were categorised as 'poor' in the second audit compared to twenty  six in the first audit. Furthermore, these two hospitals were both only 1% short of  achieving the 'fair' categorisation. Both these hospitals were re-audited in the  autumn of 2006 and achieved 'good' scores in this, their 3rd audit.

A considerable amount of work to improve hygiene standards has been undertaken at hospital and national level and a multi disciplinary approach has been adopted. While the results of the second audit are very encouraging, we recognise that in many hospitals, there are a number of elements in one or more areas where the standards need to improve.

Standards

Prior to the establishment of the HSE there were no national standards for hygiene services. We have now developed National Hygiene Services Standards in partnership with the Irish Health Services Accreditation Board.
     
To assist hospitals in implementing the National Hygiene Services Standards and as recommended by the first National Hygiene Audit Report, supporting documentation has been developed by a HSE working group with extensive consultation throughout the hospital system. This documentation has been compiled into a National Cleaning Manual which comprises the following documents together with specifications detailing how to clean environmental elements in hospitals.  The Cleaning Manual was distributed to all hospitals in September 06. National guidance on visiting in hospitals has also been developed.

Click here for HSE Publications on Hospitals

Click here to link to Hospital Hygiene Audits Page

Click here to link to HIQA National Hygiene Services Quality Review 2007 

Click here to link to HIQA National Hygiene Services Quality Review 2008

Click here to link to HSE Performance Monitoring Report Nov 08 - Health Care Associated Infections (PDF 83.5KB)

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