Hand Hygiene Compliance

Hotel Dieu Hospital is required to publicly report annually for its inpatient units only, and only for our rates before patient/patient environment contact and after patient/patient environment contact.

We know that good hand hygiene is the single most effective way to reduce the risk of health care-associated infections. Hand washing is something we all do, but it’s also something that we want to continue to do better at the right times and in the right way.

To be clear, health care providers are washing their hands. What the provincial audit tool does is help ensure they are washing them the right way at the right times.

Hand hygiene is a key issue for our hospital, and we have mobilized resources to enhance patient and health care provider safety through improved hand hygiene within our organization. Recently, 100% of Ontario hospitals participated in the government’s Just Clean Your Hands training program – an evidence-based, multi-faceted hand hygiene program to support hand hygiene improvement in hospitals.

The public reporting of hand hygiene compliance rates is another helpful measure to ensure the care provided to our patients is even safer and improves over time.

The public can also access these rates on the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care (MOHLTC) website at www.ontario.ca/patientsafety.

NOTE: On the MOHLTC website, Hotel Dieu Hospital is classified as an Acute Teaching Hospital.

Frequently asked questions about Hand Hygiene

Hotel Dieu Hospital Indicator (annually)	Before patient/patient environment:	After patient/patient environment:
Our rates for April 1, 2011 - March 31, 2012 were as follows:	63.6%	75.0%
Our rates for April 1, 2010 - March 31, 2011 were as follows:	56.1%	48.8%
Our rates for April 1, 2009 to March 31, 2010 were as follows:	66.2%	90.8%
Our rates for March 2009 were as follows:	57%	71%