Checklist for patients to take into hospital to avoid getting infections and viruses there:
1.Get the infection control policies of the hospitals or health centres you are thinking of using, and their Hygiene Protocols, often on their web sites. If you can’t find them, that is a bad sign. Does their policy state the actions they take if they find a patient with an infection? When you have chosen your hospital, take with you a printout of their infection control policy, and check that it is being put into action when you get there.
2. Make sure that, like every adult patient, you have a documented VTE risk assessment. VTE is short for Venous ThromboEmbolism, a condition where a blood clot forms in a vein. This check uses the Infection Prevention Toolkit from the Royal College of Nursing. As a patient or home carer, you should be given information on continuing VTE prevention as part of your discharge plan [NICE QS3, updated March 2018].
3. Wash your hands regularly when possibly polluted, and apply alcohol hand gel after this to be doubly sure.
4. Don’t fiddle with wound dressings or tubes – increases risk of bacteria getting into wounds.
5. Don’t walk around with bare feet – always wear slippers.
6. Don’t fiddle with items on you or on your drips.
7. Keep the space around you tidy.
8. Shower as often as you are able, never have a bath.
9. Remind staff and visitors to wash their hands thoroughly before and after coming to the ward, and then apply gel. e.g. Spirigel Complete Virucidal 85% Alcohol Hand Sanitizer Gel (buy online) – having your own supply to offer visitors makes life easier.
10. Use special washes and shampoos, and a cream in your nose, to kill the bacteria.
11. Do not shave anywhere near the area of your skin that is going to be operated on – this could leave small cuts, which make infections more likely. Do not shave at all before surgery [NICE QS49]. If hair needs to be removed, ask healthcare staff to do it with electric clippers and a single-use blades head.
page updated 05 January 2022. © 2022 social enterprise Diabetes-cutmyrisks.co.uk.™ Ltd.