Hygiene improvement's in hand
October 1st 2007 Research by the Healthcare Commission has found that many of the country's NHS Trusts are still failing to meet hygiene and cleanliness standards. Emma Nourry, trade marketing
manager at Lotus Professional, discusses how improvements can be achieved
With MRSA
and other
hospitalacquired
infections
grabbing the
headlines, the
hygiene standards of
England's NHS Trusts
have been placed
firmly in the
spotlight.Despite
improved education,
training and
awareness, research
reveals that much
more needs to be
done.The Royal
College of Nursing
describes hand
hygiene as the single most important activity for reducing the spread
of infection.However, the equipment used to wash, and more
importantly, to dry hands can also play a vital role in improving
hygiene levels and reducing the risk of cross-contamination.Wet
hands collect and transmit bacteria more easily than dry hands so all
staff and visitors should dry their hands thoroughly every time they
wash them. In fact, research has found that washing and rinsing alone
only removes 88 per cent of transient bacteria, compared to washing,
rinsing and drying with a hand towel which removes 98–99 per cent.
When it comes to choosing hand drying equipment for
washrooms and hand washing areas, an automated hand towel
dispenser such as Lotus Professional's enMotion provides one of the
most hygienic solutions available.Unlike warm air dryers which use
recycled air, dispersing bacteria around the washroom and back on to
hands, an automated dispenser greatly reduces the possibility of
cross-contamination during hand drying.
The system works with the use of a sensor which distributes a
length of paper towel when a hand is waved in front of the dispenser.
The paper towel roll is fully enclosed within the dispenser ensuring
that the user only ever touches the hand towels that are needed.
To help reduce wastage, costs and maintenance time, the size of
paper towel and the time delay between hand towels being
dispensed can be controlled, so users do not take more hand towels
than they need.
The adjustable sensor proximity function ensures that in smaller
washrooms paper towels are not
accidentally dispensed. More articles from Georgia-Pacific GB Ltd: | 
