ABU DHABI // Infection prevention and control programmes should be an integral part of management of healthcare facilities, according to the Health Authority –Abu Dhabi (Haad).
Acquiring an infection in hospital can increase the duration and cost of a patient’s stay and may result in permanent disability or death, according to Haad’s Policy for Infection Control in the Healthcare Facilities.Dr Manaf Alqahtani, an infectious disease consultant at the Bahrain Defence Force Hospital, previously spoke to The National about this often overlooked aspect of the hospitalisation process.
“The cost to patients and their families is tremendous and they also lose trust in the hospital. Their lives are affected by these infections, many of which are preventable,” said Dr Alqahtani, who was in Dubai for the Patient Safety Middle East Exhibition and Conference.
It is mandatory to have an infection control plan and policies, procedures and guidelines in each healthcare facility.
Dr Philip Carling, director of infectious diseases and hospital epidemiology at Carney Hospital in Boston in the US, who also previously spoke to The National, said infection control involved making sure all levels of staff were aware of good practices.
“Everybody, from the person who cleans the toilet and changes the toilet paper to those responsible for daily cleaning, need to be aware that doing their job right can have an effect and help people recover without acquiring an infection,” he said.
Part of the problem, practitioners have said, is that there is a misconception that if the problem was admitted, then blame would have been placed on various hospitals.
Haad’s policy states that “all healthcare staff, specifically those providing direct clinical care to patients and clients, should participate in the prevention and control of infection by adopting consistent and best practice guidelines wherever healthcare interventions takes place.”
nalwasmi@thenational.ae
