Andrea Jenkyns – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrea Jenkyns on 2016-05-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to page 23 of the final report of the Review on Antimicrobial Resistance, published in May 2016, what steps his Department is taking to address the low level of adherence to proper hand hygiene in hospitals and other care settings.
Ben Gummer
Auditing to improve hand hygiene and ensuring appropriate use of technology are important local responsibilities which contribute to improving the quality of care. However, tackling healthcare associated infections is complex and requires a strong patient safety system that integrates cleanliness, infection prevention and control and antibiotic use and addresses them all.
To help the National Health Service improve infection prevention and control we continuously review and enhance national measures, systems and guidance. For example, reducing infections is part of the Guidance for the NHS on Sustainability and Transformation Plans. Antimicrobial resistance was added to Public Health England’s (PHE) Fingertips data system in April to enable easier monitoring and benchmarking against other organisations. PHE’s Rapid Review Panel assesses new products and technologies aiming to reduce infections and in addition the Department’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including hygiene.
The NIHR also supports research infrastructure in the NHS including Diagnostic Evidence Co-operatives which generate evidence on diagnostic medical devices that have the potential to lead to improvements in healthcare services and the quality of life of NHS patients. Two of these, based at Imperial and Newcastle, focus part of their work on clinical areas relevant to infection.
