International Infection Prevention Control Week is held every year in October to raise awareness about the importance of the prevention of infection.
At Benenden Hospital our staff know how crucial it is to maintain our high standards of cleanliness to keep patients safe from the risk of infection. This month from October 17 to 23, learn about our hospital’s infection prevention and control measures.
These measures are vital and a key group of people who ensure our rigorous hygiene standards are maintained is our housekeeping team. Employed directly by the hospital, they ensure standards remain high and quite simply, are some of our unsung heroes who consistently go above and beyond to help ensure the hospital remains a clean and safe environment for all.
Award-winning Benenden Hospital housekeeping team
We are proud of our housekeeping team who have consistently ensure that the hospital facilities provide a clean and safe environment for both patients and visitors.
The team of 28, mainly part-time, housekeeping staff, is led by the Housekeeping Manager, Marian Chandler who is also a member of our Infection Prevention and Control team.
Marian speaks proudly of the impeccably clean hospital her housekeeping staff maintain: “We receive lots of positive patient feedback which is motivating and rewarding. Our housekeeping team has an excellent reputation and is highly thought of by everyone in our Care Quality Commission (CQC) rated Outstanding hospital, hence this contributed to us winning the Best of Benenden Award for Support Services Excellence – in 2016!”.The Best of Benenden Awards is an annual hospital event which began in 2015 and seeks to recognise staff achievements across all departments.
Dedicated to preventing and controlling infection
To prove our commitment to the development and optimisation of our preventative measures, we have had no cases of hospital acquired infections such as MRSA or Clostridium Difficile (C.diff) as far as our records go back.
As well as our Housekeeping team, our hospital also has an on-site Decontamination Services (DS) team of 14 staff, who are responsible for the decontamination of reusable medical devices. DS encompasses our purpose-built Sterile Services Department (SSD) and our Endoscopy Decontamination Unit (EDU) which deals with the decontamination of reusable flexible endoscopes. At our hospital, we are proud to have our Decontamination Services on-site as it ensures quality standards are maintained, equipment is readily available to us and the process is responsive to meeting the needs of our patients.
As members of the Antibiotic Guardian scheme, we’re working hard to contribute to the safe use of antibiotics and to reduce antimicrobial resistance (AMR). This poses a threat to the effective prevention and treatment of an ever-increasing range of infections.
Global Handwashing Day (15 October) also falls within this International Infection Prevention Control Week so keep an eye out on our social media to find out if you’ve been washing your hands correctly. Monthly Hand Hygiene Audits are completed in all clinical areas, and assessments and training is completed in non-clinical areas using a U.V. light box and torch.
Find out more about our Infection Control team and their commitment to the development and maintenance of a safe environment for patients, staff and visitors.
Published on 16 October 2021