Hessian Hygiene Regulation later this year?

Hessian hygiene regulation for clinics should come this year

06/02/2011

After the findings of contaminated surgical instruments in the hospital Fulda and Kassel, the Hessian Minister of Social Affairs has announced the introduction of a sanitary regulation for all Hessian hospitals. Recently, the hygiene deficiencies in the Hessian clinics had accumulated and led to far-reaching limitations of operations operations. A state that is unacceptable in the view of the Hessian Minister of Social Affairs, Stefan Grüttner (CDU). Therefore, a uniform hygiene regulation should be adopted this year.

Hygiene regulation regulates hygiene structure and its monitoring
The new Hessian Hygiene Regulation will include regulations on the hygiene structure in the clinics and their monitoring by the authorities, said the Hessian Minister of Social Affairs on Saturday in Giessen. The basis of the new Hygiene Ordinance is the Hospital Act, which has been in effect since the beginning of the year, according to Grüttner. In the end, however, the clinics on site were responsible for compliance with hygiene standards, and the staff needed a correspondingly better education to meet this responsibility. For this reason, hygiene specialists must be trained more intensively in nursing and technology, and physicians should also specialize in this area, explained Grüttner. In order to meet the changed demands on the qualification of the specialized personnel, the state government, in cooperation with the state medical association, is already developing new offers for the corresponding education and training.

Hygiene ordinance should involve health authorities more
According to the Minister of Social Affairs, the planned sanitary ordinance should not only put the clinics in charge, but also oblige health authorities to intensify the monitoring of hygiene in the hospitals. The Ministry of Social Affairs will call on the health authorities to do so, „The monitoring of hygiene in hospitals is increasingly becoming the focus of her work“, Grüttner continued. The Minister of Social Affairs also announced plans to start talks with the Hessian Hospital Association and the municipal umbrella organizations regarding the implementation of the planned measures. Where the goal will be, „develop common strategies to improve hygiene in hospitals.“ In this way, similar occurrences as with the contaminated surgical instruments in Fulda and Kassel should be avoided in the future. However, the findings of the contaminated surgical instruments have also shown that the state testing mechanisms work, said Grüttner. What has led to the impurities, according to the Minister of Social Affairs continues to be investigated, but remains unclear.

Experts warn against hygiene deficiencies
Hygiene experts have been criticizing the poor hygiene situation in many German clinics for some time now. The German Society for Hospital Hygiene (DGKH), has repeatedly criticized that hygiene deficiencies in hospitals, for example, a steadily increasing number of infections with MRSA - multidrug-resistant bacterial strains of the genus Staphylococcus aureus (Staphylococci), which are resistant to treatment with common antibiotics - condition. Klaus-Dieter Zastrow, spokesman for the DGKH, underlined the importance of uniform regulations throughout Germany „Bacteria (...) are the same everywhere, for them there are no differences between the federal states.“ Especially in the intensive care units there is often still a considerable need for action with regard to hygiene, Zastrow explained last year. (Fp)

Also read:
Klinikum Kassel: surgical instruments were sterile
Again contaminated surgical cutlery in Hesse
Contaminated surgical instruments at the Fulda Hospital
Every tenth hospital treatment hurts

Picture: Gerd Altmann, Pixelio