At New Mowasat Hospital, the housekeeping team maintains a clean and hygienic environment for our patients, staff, and visitors. Our commitment to hygiene and infection prevention is reflected in our rigorous policies and procedures designed to minimize the risk of healthcare-associated infections ( HAIs). We prioritize hygiene and infection prevention; our best practices reflect our commitment to excellence.

Hand Hygiene is the cornerstone of infection prevention. We ensure that:

• Hand sanitizer stations are readily available throughout our facility. Also available in each housekeeping trollies.
• Staff members wash their hands with soap and water or use hand sanitizer before and after interacting with patients.
• Patients and visitors are encouraged to practice good hand hygiene. 

Pre-cleaning Preparation 

• Wear personal protective equipment (PPE): our housekeeping staff wears gloves, masks, and eye protection to prevent exposure to body fluids and chemicals.
• Housekeeping staff obtain the room status from nursing regarding isolation precautions to ensure tailored cleaning protocols
• Staff collect necessary solutions, disinfectants, and equipment to ensure efficient cleaning.

Cleaning and disinfection 

• Clean from top to bottom: We start cleaning from the top of the room to the bottom, from dirty to clean, to prevent cross-contamination.
• Use hospital-grade cleaning products: we utilize hospital-grade cleaning products and disinfectants to ensure effective microbial killing.
• Disinfect High-Touch Surfaces: We focus on disinfecting high-touch surfaces around the clock, such as doorknobs, light Switches, Elevator buttons, and bed rails.
• Color-coded items for cleaning, such as cleaning equipment, mops, cloths, and Garbage bags, to avoid cross-contamination

Waste Management

• Segregation of waste: We segregate the waste into different categories with color codes, including infectious, sharp, and non-infectious waste. All the infectious waste is moved to the autoclave process.
• Disposing of the waste following local and national regulations.

Staff Training and Education

• We provide regular training and education on infection prevention and control practices for our housekeeping staff.
• Staff members are encouraged to report any concerns or near-misses related to infection prevention 

Staff Safety 

• All staff members at New Mowasat have received vaccinations to ensure their safety and the safety of those they interact with. This proactive measure reflects our commitment to maintaining a healthy environment for both employees and the community.

Patient and Visitor Education

• Patients and visitors are provided with information on hand hygiene, proper use of PPE, waste segregation, and other infection prevention measures.
• All our facilities are equipped with PPE stations for patients, visitors, and staff to use and promote safety.
• We encourage patients and visitors to speak up if they have any concerns about infection control. We are also getting feedback from the patient advisory committee.

Continuous Quality Improvement

• Conduct regular audits to ensure compliance with infection prevention and control policies and identify the areas for improvement.
• We analyze data on HAIs and other infection prevention metrics to inform our quality improvement initiatives
• Leadership team rounds provide a significant advantage in quality improvement and maintaining standards.

By implementing these practices, our housekeeping team plays a critical role in preventing healthcare-associated infections and maintaining a clean and hygienic environment for our patients, staff, and visitors.

About the author

Binu Agnel Jose is the Head of Housekeeping department at New Mowasat Hospital, Kuwait.