Wash Your Hands

Cleaning your hands is one of the simplest, cheapest and most effective ways of preventing germs being passed from one person to another. 
 
Around one third of infections are preventable and our hospital wards and clinical areas now have alcohol gel dispensers by beds for staff and visitors to use to help stop the spread of germs.
 
Hands should be washed twice, once with soap to kill the clostridium difficile and other bacteria and then with alcohol gel to detsroy MRSA.

Who should wash their hands?

All hospital staff, patients and visitors should clean their hands on a regular basis.
 
If a member of staff needs to examine you or perform a procedure, do not be afraid to ask if they have cleaned their hands.

When should you wash your hands?

• After visiting the toilet

• Before eating or handling food

• If your hands are dirty

• Before visiting a patient and again before leaving the ward 

How to wash your hands

• Remove jewellery

• Wet hands

• Apply soap and rub together, for at least 15 seconds, making sure that all areas of both hands come into contact with the soap

• Rinse all the soap off your hands then dry your hands

• Apply alcohol gel and rub together for at least 15 seconds, making sure that all areas of both hands come into contact with the gel

• You do not need to rinse or dry after using alcohol gel