This year the World Health Organisation’s SAVE LIVES: Clean Your Hands May 5 campaign is linking hand hygiene to the prevention of sepsis in healthcare.
Over 55,000 Australians suffer from sepsis every year and over 8,700 of these people will die. Of those who survive, half are left with a disability or impaired function.
We know there is about 80% of sepsis cases that are contracted outside of the healthcare setting. The remaining 20% are healthcare associated and are often preventable.
The New South Wales Clinical Excellence Commission has recorded a short presentation from a number of professionals who work at the CEC. The presentation highlights the importance of prevention of sepsis using strategies such as: good hand hygiene; early recognition of sepsis; clinical leadership; cleaning of equipment between patients; protecting our most vulnerable paediatric patients and the risks associated with the use of antimicrobials in treatment.
The presentation is available on this link, through the CEC website (in the youtube section on the home page) and can be seen on twitter from the 5 May – follow the hashtags #WorldHandHygieneDayor #HandHygiene.
If you work in a clinical teams, please share with your team and encourage discussions on how they can improve hand hygiene to improve patient safety.
