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Hand-Washing Key to Controlling Hospital Infections: Alberta Review

Posted on: Wednesday, 16 January 2008, 21:00 CST

By Bill Graveland, THE CANADIAN PRESS

CALGARY - An in-depth review ordered by the Alberta government after a hospital was partially shut down over a sterilization scare says the most effective way to control infections at health facilities is meticulous hand-washing.

The recommendation is a key component of guidelines that Health Minister Dave Hancock says the province will bring in by the end of January after the months-long review.

"It seems like a no-brainer," Hancock said Wednesday. "It seems like common sense to wash your hands, but all too often hand-washing is seen as something one has to do before getting to an important task.

" The reality is (that) in the health-care setting hand hygiene must be seen as integral in every task."

The guidelines are meant to provide a provincewide standard for accountability, cleaning and sterilizing of equipment and the prevention of infectious outbreaks in hospitals.

The Health Department will monitor hospitals to make sure they are following the guidelines and will require periodic audits and reports.

Hancock ordered the review last spring after part of St. Joseph's hospital in Vegreville had to be closed temporarily when it was discovered some surgical equipment was not being properly sterilized. There was also an outbreak of methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus that needed to be contained and no new patients were allowed for several weeks.

"The goal of the strategy is to protect the health of Albertans by preventing and controlling the transmission of infections," Hancock said.

"We want to assure Albertans their health will not be put at risk by exposure to infections while they're in the health system."

About 3,000 former patients of the hospital and a health clinic in nearby Lloydminster were tested for a number of diseases, including HIV, but no cases of infection were found.

The government is investing $16 million to address the need for infrastructure upgrades in health-care facilities for hygiene and hand-washing practices and other infection control.

Individual health regions will be responsible for enforcing standards and reporting to the province. Each health region currently has its own infection-control standards, so they vary from region to region.

Last summer a study by the Health Quality Council of Alberta found there was confusion between the East Central Health Authority and its health centres, including St. Joseph's, about their roles and responsibilities. St. Joseph's is considered a faith-based organization and works under a provincial master agreement.

Dr. Karen Grimsrud, Alberta's acting chief medical officer, said it's important to eliminate any confusion over interpretation.

"The Alberta standards are based on national standards, and previously each provincial health authority had their own interpretations," she explained. "What the new standards do is break it down into clear detail on what the expectations are."

The Calgary Health Region doesn't anticipate any problems complying and already has many of the standards in place, said board chairman David Tuerr.

"We're still working through it to see what our monitoring processes need to look like and what our reporting processes need to look like," he said.

The Opposition called the changes positive but long overdue.

"The lack of this government doing its job has contributed to a serious compromise in health-care quality," said Dr. David Swann, a former physician and Liberal member of the legislature.

"Where has the government been for the last 15 years? The most fundamental rule of health care is we do not harm people that come into our institutions."

Source: Canadian Press

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