Hand Hygiene
Effective hand hygiene is the most important way to reduce the risk of passing on infections in hospitals. All members of HCA staff, including medical staff, are required to follow good hand hygiene practice - which includes washing their hands with soap and water or the use of antiseptic hand gel - and we run a campaign of regular reminders and training sessions.
You can help too. We all carry germs on our hands, so we encourage you and your visitors to wash your hands or use the hand gel provided when in our facilities. Hand gels are available in all clinical areas. Please feel free to ask our staff members if they have cleaned their hands when they enter your room.
Patients First
All of our hospitals have individual patient rooms with en suite facilities to reduce the risk of infection spreading from one patient to the next. All our staff undertake regular infection prevention and control training, and practice is constantly audited against national standards.
We continually adapt and improve our hospitals with the latest features to enhance good infection prevention and control practice, with expert advice from Consultant Microbiologists and our own Infection Control Nurses.
Current projects include the construction of purpose built isolation facilities, new Intensive Care Units with dedicated hand hygiene facilities in each individual bed-space and use of bedside computerised patient monitoring.
Housekeeping
All rooms in all our facilities are kept meticulously clean. Our dedicated housekeeping staff undertake regular training and follow stringent housekeeping and cleaning policies. Colour-coded cleaning materials are used throughout HCA, in accordance with national standards, to ensure the high levels of cleanliness in our facilities is maintained.
Best Practice
Across our hospitals we have put in place methods of working and best practice for all our staff to follow. These are founded on the "Code of Practice for Prevention and Control of Healthcare Associated Infections" as defined by the Health Act 2008.
We also have a dedicated team of Infection Control Nurses, one in each facility, overseeing the provision and delivery of infection prevention and control services, including mandatory surveillance and staff training.
If you have any questions, they are here to help, so please feel free to contact them:
Sarah Ross - sarah.ross@hcahealthcare.co.uk (HCA Infection Control Lead & The Harley Street Clinic)
Lisa Wickwar - lisa.wickwar@hcahealthcare.co.uk (London Bridge Hospital)
Ruth Ronianski - ruth.ronianski@hcahealthcare.co.uk (The Portland Hospital)
Loretta Jordan - loretta.jordan@hcahealthcare.co.uk (Princess Grace Hospital)
Shirley Bishop - shirley.bishop@hcahealthcare.co.uk (The Wellington Hospital)
HCA Quality - Our commitment to being the cleanest, safest hospitals in London
Screening and Management of Meticillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)
Staphylococcus aureus is a bacterium commonly found in the nose, hair or groin of approximately 30% of the population. It does not normally cause any problems, but when it becomes resistant to antibiotic treatment (Meticillin - formerly known as Methicillin)) it is difficult to treat. In hospitals it can cause post operative wound infections and blood stream infections, which can complicate the patient's recovery.
All our patients are routinely screened for MRSA either before or immediately on admission, in accordance with the Health Act 2008. This, together with robust risk assessment, enables us to quickly isolate and treat any positive patients.
We consider all patients arriving from other hospitals and from abroad as potentially positive until they are proven to be clear. We would never normally turn away any patient who is positive for MRSA.
Patients who are found to be positive for MRSA are isolated and treated with Chlorhexidine body wash and Mupirocin nasal ointment for five days in line with national guidance.
Healthcare Associated Infections
We are proud to maintain very low rates of healthcare associated infections (HCAI) within our facilities.
Results externally audited
We collect and record our infection data and submit this to external agencies, such as the Health Protection Agency. This means that we are measured in exactly the same way as all other NHS hospitals as well as other private hospitals that choose to submit data.
Please click on the link below for further details:
Clostridium difficile (C.diff) Infection
Very low risk of C.diff infection in our private hospitals in London
Clostridium difficile infection is also carefully monitored in our hospitals and HCA has a rigorous approach to protecting our patients.
C.diff is a bacterium which normally lives in the gut. It can cause an infection when the normal flora (bacteria) of our gut is disturbed through use of antibiotics. (It is sometimes known as antibiotic associated diarrhoea) The risk of infection increases with age and if your immune system is compromised for any reason.
The Management of C.diff policy is based on good nursing management and monitoring of vulnerable patients, and has been adopted across all our hospitals.
The policy includes:
- Isolation of patients with symptoms
- Rigorous hand washing with soap and water (alcohol gels are ineffective against C.diff)
- Close adherence to antibiotic prescribing policies (HCA Hospitals provide consultant-led patient care in which antibiotic usage is carefully monitored by the consultants and by our pharmacies)
- Clinical staff training to recognise antibiotic associated diarrhoea
- Maintaining a high standard of cleanliness (Chlorine based detergent is used to clean any room where a patient is isolated due to an infection)
- Ensuring that all staff comply with the policy
When you are caring for hundreds of thousands of patients as we are, this policy ensures that the risks to our patients are kept to an absolute minimum.
