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- The provision of alcohol-based products to improve compliance with hand hygiene - Health Technology Assessment (PDF, 2.87M, 13.55 mins - time based on a 28K connection)
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About this Report
Hand hygiene is considered to be a primary measure in reducing the spread of healthcare associated infection (HAI). NHS Quality Improvement Scotland (NHS QIS) has issued advice to NHSScotland on the use of alcohol gel to improve hand hygiene in hospitals. Alcohol gel is a substance that can be used to clean hands without using water. We have advised that alcohol gel should be provided in hospitals for all staff who may come into contact with patients, and for hospital visitors, particularly where handwashing facilities are limited. However, alcohol gel should complement, not replace, existing handwashing facilities.
Objectives of the Health Technology Assessment (HTA)
The objectives of this HTA¿are as follows:
- to review the existing literature on the effectiveness and costs and benefits of alcohol-based hand hygiene products¿
- to assess whether the added benefits of improving hand hygiene are likely to offset the additional costs.
The clinical effectiveness of alcohol-based hand hygiene products is assessed in terms of improvements in hand hygiene compliance and reductions in HAI through hand hygiene. For the purpose of this report, the term ¿hand hygiene¿ refers only to handwashing with soap and water and the use of alcohol-based hand hygiene products.
Report's Recommendations
- Despite the lack of unequivocal evidence, the potential benefit of providing alcohol-based hand hygiene products is likely to outweigh the costs and therefore these should be available for use by all NHSScotland staff working in clinical areas. Alcoholbased hand hygiene products should also be provided for the use of visitors, particularly where handwashing facilities are limited.
- Staff planning local initiatives to improve hand hygiene should note that multi-component interventions are more likely to be effective and sustainable than single-component interventions. Although such initiatives are more resource intensive, these have greater potential to be cost effective.
- Robust evaluation of any hand hygiene intervention should be carried out. This will require compliance and/or infection rates to be audited both before and after the intervention and possible influences on these rates to be taken into account. Comparator groups should be included wherever possible.
- Studies of the effectiveness of hand hygiene interventions should be published. This will allow a body of literature to be established which could subsequently be synthesised to identify the most effective interventions for particular clinical situations.
Understanding our Advice
This booklet has been produced to explain our advice on alcohol gel to people who do not have specialist knowledge in this area. It explains what healthcare associated infections (HAIs) are, what alcohol gel does, how we formed our advice and the evidence we considered.
Archived Documents
N.B. These documents¿are archived and retained for reference purposes only.
