On 5 May 2009, the World Health Organization (WHO) will highlight the critical importance of good hand hygiene in patient care with a new global awareness initiative. Hospitals/healthcare facilities throughout the world are invited to register their support for hand hygiene improvement at the point of care as a core patient safety issue to reduce healthcare-associated infection (HAI) and protect patients from harm. The target is 5000 facilities to be registered by 5 May 2010.
Once registered, hospitals/healthcare facilities will be invited to develop their own ways of advocating for better hand hygiene. WHO will support these via a designated website, a suite of tools and other promotional and advocacy materials. As more and more facilities register, we will publicise this groundswell of support to send a strong message to the world about the importance of the simple, low cost healthcare intervention – hand hygiene.
To date, 116 countries have pledged support for the First Global Patient Safety Challenge: Clean Care is Safer Care. More than 20 countries have developed their own in-country campaigns to promote hand hygiene at the point of care, and there are several sites which have pilot-tested the implementation of the WHO Guidelines on Hand Hygiene in Healthcare in the six WHO regions.
A set of new and refined tools for healthcare facilities and healthcare workers globally will be accessible from the WHO website. The tools will help facilities determine where they are on a continuum of hand hygiene improvement, and assist with implementation and ongoing sustainability. The tools feature the newly developed WHO 5 Moments Model - a ground-breaking concept to help ensure that improvements are embedded at the point of care and move closer towards a global healthcare system in which no patients are harmed due to avoidable HAI.
If you are a healthcare facility/hospital and you are interested in this campaign, register your interest NOW via http://www.who.int/gpsc/5may/en/index.html
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WHO issues its annual global call to action - SAVE LIVES: Clean Your Hands
5 May 2010
WHO First Global Patient Safety Challenge: Clean Care is Safer Care
Launched in 2009 to enhance the sustainability of hand hygiene campaigning and action around the globe, WHO SAVE LIVES: Clean Your Hands initiative issues an annual call to action on 5 May every year by inviting healthcare workers, facilities and organizations throughout the world to actively campaign for improved hand hygiene at the point of care to reduce healthcare associated infections, and to demonstrate their commitment to this priority global movement.
Many thousands of healthcare facilities are registered for the WHO SAVE LIVES: Clean Your Hands global annual initiative, which importantly translates into commitment from well over 5 million staff and takes into account 2 million patient beds.
But as well as registering we need real engagement and action; we need commitment; we need ongoing enthusiasm.
The SAVE LIVES initiative has seen many examples of local action and activities since its launch. Many of these are featured on a dedicated page on the WHO website. These examples are important for encouraging and motivating others, in demonstrating the global commitment and ensuring an ongoing high profile as well as national commitment to tackling poor hand hygiene compliance.
What's new from WHO Clean Care is Safer Care?
As part of the SAVE LIVES: Clean Your Hands initiative, the First Challenge Team recently announced two key hand hygiene improvement activities through the use of two new tools.
Hand Hygiene Moment 1 - Global Observation Survey
The SAVE LIVES: Clean Your Hands initiative invited healthcare facilities to participate in a global survey on or around 5 May 2010 by observing hand hygiene compliance with Moment 1 (before touching a patient) and submitting their data to WHO.
WHY?
• To motivate healthcare workers to focus on taking action to improve and sustain hand hygiene, including the important indication for hand hygiene "before touching a patient"
• To assess healthcare worker compliance with Moment 1 (before touching a patient)
• For WHO, to assess global compliance with Moment 1 through secured data collection and analysis.
Hand Hygiene Self-Assessment Framework
The Team also launched a new tool called the Hand Hygiene Self-Assessment Framework.
WHAT IS IT?
The Hand Hygiene Self-Assessment Framework is a validated and systematic tool with which to obtain a situation analysis of hand hygiene promotion and practices within your healthcare facility. The Framework is divided into five sections which reflect the five components considered key for hand hygiene improvement according to the WHO Multimodal Hand Hygiene Improvement Strategy. Each section includes indicators selected according to evidence and expert consensus in order to represent the key elements of each component.
WHY?
• To assess the level of progress of your healthcare facility with regards to infrastructures, resources, actions, commitment and achievements, in order to ensure optimal hand hygiene practices
• To facilitate development of an action plan for the facility‘s hand hygiene improvement programme
• To identify key issues requiring attention and improvement and to document progress over time through the repeated use of the Framework
* The most appropriate professionals to complete the Framework are those in charge of implementing a strategy to improve hand hygiene within a healthcare facility. If no strategy is being implemented yet, the Framework can be completed by professionals in charge of infection control or senior managers at facility directorate level.
We encourage healthcare professionals to use the Hand Hygiene Self-Assessment Framework to continuously assess the healthcare facility's progress according to evidence-based standards for hand hygiene improvement.
Infection Control Webinar Series
WHO launched its inaugural infection control webinar series in January 2010. Throughout the rest of the year sessions will be held on a monthly basis, providing free educational opportunities on healthcare associated infection topics to professionals around the globe.
More information on all the tools, webinars and other First Challenge activities are at http://www.who.int/gpsc/5may/en/
If you have any enquiries on WHO's First Global Patient Safety Challenge activities or would like to request any information or resources, such as WHO flyers to be used at events, please send them to savelives@who.int |
