An Infection Control and Prevention Awareness Day was held recently in the New Haughton Hospital in New Ross, Co. Wexford.
Organised by the hospital in conjunction with the HSE’s Infection Prevention and Control Services, management and staff colleagues, residents of New Haughton and visitors alike were encouraged to be part of the day, the focus of which was a display stand.
The event followed on from New Haughton Hospital marking a year since it began its implementation of the national “RESIST” hand hygiene campaign.
The RESIST hand hygiene awareness programme promotes a combination of hand hygiene training with standardised national training materials. Hand hygiene has been at the forefront of all of the initiatives that the HSE has been implementing to reduce the spread of COVID-19. The RESIST campaign is to refresh hand hygiene messages and to keep promoting the importance of clean hands.
New Haughton Hospital in New Ross provides long-term residential and respite care for 42 older persons. Residents also have access to community care services including, speech and language therapy, dietetics, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, chiropody, dental, audiography and ophthalmic services.
Speaking at the Awareness Day in the New Haughton, the hospital’s Director Nursing Margaret Nowlan O’ Neill said:
“New Haughton Hospital has an excellent reputation as a care facility and is deeply appreciative of the support the hospital receives from families and the wider community in the area it serves.”
“Our record in hand hygiene has also been excellent but we are always looking to continuously improving infection prevention practices. Our selection last year to participate in the RESIST programme and our in-house initiatives, such as today’s Awareness Day, will help us to do that. HSE Clinical Nurse Specialists in Infection Prevention and Control Theresa Duffy and Kerensa McRedmond joined us for the Awareness Day. It was a great success, created lots on interest on Infection Prevention and Control and Hand Hygiene and our visitors were very interested in the chats regarding their own hand hygiene practices.”
“Cleaning your hands properly, at the correct time, when delivering care to patients and residents is the most effective way to stop the spread of many infections. When healthcare workers like doctors, nurses and carers keep their hands clean, they help prevent the spread of serious healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs). These are infections that can happen in any healthcare service.”
Kerensa McRedmond (Clinical Nurse Manager 2/Infection Prevention & Control, HSE) added:
“Staff, residents, patients and visitors all have a role to play, to help stop the spread of Healthcare Associated Infections and join the superbug resistance. The RESIST programme and Awareness Days help facilities like New Haughton refresh and energise its hand hygiene approach and our Link Practitioner and Infection Control Nurses will be supporting them to do that”.
