Health staff handed germ risk warning

HEALTH workers have been reminded that germs from dirty hands can be transferred to equipment as well as patients.

Bosses want to reinforce the importance of hand hygiene to reduce the risk of spreading superbugs such as MRSA and C.diff.

Employees have been rapped in the past for not complying with hand-washing guidelines set down by the Scottish Government, and doctors - who were at one point the worst offenders - were even threatened with disciplinary action.

NHS Lothian's hand hygiene co-ordinator Ann McQueen said: "Even though we're not touching patients, we're touching their surroundings such as their beds, cards, curtains and medical notes at the end of their bed.

"After touching anything like this we should be washing or gelling our hands as we know bacteria and viruses live on these surfaces and may be picked up by our hands.

"Hand hygiene is the single most important factor in reducing and preventing avoidable illnesses such as infections and healthcare associated infections such as MRSA and even the flu or common cold, which are, a lot of the time, avoidable."