Dental Tribune United Kingdom Edition

Nov 26 - Dec 3, 201216 Infection Control United Kingdom Edition A major three-year trial led by researchers at UCL, in partnership with the Health Protection Agency, has shown that giving one-to- one feedback to healthcare workers makes them twice as likely to clean their hands. The Feedback Intervention Trial (FIT) is the first such trial to be done in a large number of hospitals anywhere in the world. Carried out across 60 wards in 16 hospitals that were already imple- menting the English and Welsh Cleanyourhands campaign, the study showed that an interven- tion that coupled feedback to personalised action planning improved hand-hygiene compli- ance by up to 18 per cent on In- tensive Therapy Units (ITUs) and 13 per cent on Acute Care of the Elderly (ACE) wards. It was also found that soap use increased by 30 per cent. “This is a landmark trial, as until now there has been no ran- domised controlled trial evidence showing which interventions im- prove hand hygiene compliance in modern hospitals,” said princi- ple investigator Dr Sheldon Stone (UCL Medical School at the Royal Free Hospital). “It is also the first trial to use behavioural sciences to change health care workers hand hygiene behaviour.” “The study suggests that the NHS should explore using the FIT intervention and learn how best to implement it, as used properly it can be a really power- ful tool. The intervention, which couples feedback to personalised action planning, could be includ- ed in infection control teams’ audit and appraisal systems in order to reduce the burden of healthcare associated infection on hospital wards.” The intervention process involved a four-week audit cy- cle, with healthcare workers observed for 20 minutes. Imme- diate feedback was given after the period of observation, and the person was then helped to form a personal action plan for better hand hygiene. The ef- fect was stronger on ITUs than ACEs, where it was easier to implement. The more frequent- ly wards carried out the inter- vention, the stronger its effect. In addition to observing and measuring hand-hygiene com- pliance, the amount of soap and alcohol hand-rub used each month was also collected as another measure of hand- hygiene compliance for each ward. This also gave a better picture of the total weekly us- age, as such data was not sub- ject to any observational bias. “Although audit and feedback is often suggested as a way of im- proving hand hygiene, this study putsitsuseonafirmerfootingthan previous non-randomised stud- ies, providing the strongest evi- dence yet that this is an effective way to improve hand hygiene when coupled with a repeating cycle of personalised goal-setting and action planning,” said Dr Stone. DT Behavioural sciences change health care workers hand hygiene behaviour Best ever value cone beam CT Veraviewepocs 3D R100 & F40 Up to three times the image detail of other 3D X-ray systems Revolutionary R100 Reuleaux triangle full arch field of view Compact, versatile and affordable Extra clarity for implantology, endodontics and oral surgery Focus on the anatomy you need to see Up to six fields of view from 40mm to R100 Reuleaux arch Confidence of high definition, distortion-free radiographs High speed, high quality, low dose image Easy and accurate automatic scout positioning Multi-layer panoramic images Up to three times the image The Dental Imaging Experts G Comprehensive service and support plans G Independent specialists in digital X-ray systems Telephone: 0845 602 4944 Email: info@thedentalimagingcompany.co.uk FREE demonstration call 0845 388 3380 or email info@morita-uk.com See what you’re missing www.thedentalimagingcompany.co.uk NEW updated Conebeam A4 advert 9280.indd 1 17/10/2012 10:46