Hand hygiene at the point of care: The first line of patient safety
Clean hands save lives in healthcare. Hand hygiene is the first line of defence against infections, antimicrobial resistance and unnecessary pressure on hospitals. Here’s why it matters at every point of care:
Hand hygiene is often viewed as a ‘simple action’, but this is simply not true, especially in healthcare, where it is one of the most powerful patient safety interventions available. This routine gesture is central to infection prevention and control, as hands are a primary means by which pathogens spread between patients, surfaces, equipment and healthcare professionals. Improving hand hygiene procedures ‘at the point of care’ is essential to reducing healthcare-associated infections and improving the quality of care.
Why is hand hygiene more than just ‘good practice’?
- Healthcare-associated infections (HAI) are frequent and often preventable. HAIs are among the most frequent adverse events linked to health service delivery, affecting around one in ten patients on average. Higher rates are reported in some settings and among high-risk patients, such as those in intensive care.
- Poor hand hygiene can lead to antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) and AMR reinforce one another: infections acquired in healthcare settings are often caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which increases complexity, length of stay and cost.
- The impact is not only clinical, but also economic. In Europe, healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are associated with millions of additional hospital days and substantial costs for the economy, as people have a longer recovery time, and for hospitals, as they become overloaded and under pressure.
In medical settings, hands are constantly moving between patients, medical devices, paperwork, and the care environment. This creates many opportunities for cross-transmission if hand hygiene is missed or done incorrectly.
However, achieving consistent adherence to hand hygiene remains difficult across many settings and roles, even when clear guidelines are in place. This requires behavioural changes at both the individual and organisational levels.
Hand hygiene is a cornerstone of safe healthcare because it interrupts transmission at the point where care is delivered. It reduces avoidable harm from healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), supports efforts to slow antimicrobial resistance (AMR), and helps health systems reduce costs and improve quality, especially when implemented as part of a sustained, multimodal infection prevention and control programme.
In short, clean hands protect patients, staff and systems.
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Below, you will find resources explaining the importance of handwashing to healthcare professionals and the general public. You can print and display them.
Infographic-Health-Professionals_PRINT_compressed.pdf
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