When it comes to washing your hands properly and regularly, Benenden Hospital surgical and support teams are real evangelists. It’s no accident that Benenden Hospital has one of the best records amongst UK hospitals for avoiding healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs), together with an impeccable record of zero incidences of MRSA bacteraemia and no cases of C. Difficile infection since 2002.

Monthly Hand Hygiene Audits completed in all clinical areas, and assessments and training completed in non-clinical areas using U.V. light box and torch. This ensures that our high standards are maintained across the organisation.

So who better to comment on the importance of handwashing, when related to the hospital situation, than Director of Infection Prevention and Control at Benenden Hospital, Heather Leslie. “At Benenden Hospital we dedicate a lot of time and effort to the issue of infection prevention and control, because we believe that patients deserve to come into, and be treated in, an environment in which the chances of them picking up infections are reduced to the bare minimum. Healthcare-associated infections are something that patients are really worried about when coming into hospital and we want to ensure that the patient journey is as safe as it can possibly be, which is why we are constantly reviewing and auditing our practices. We are very proud of our extremely low infection rate at Benenden Hospital but will never let complacency set in. We’ll strive to continue and maintain our excellent record through promotion of infection prevention measures such as pre-operative patient screening and the placing and use of hand gel across the hospital site.”