This leaflet should be given to patients/ relatives on admission
This leaflet explains what the Clinical staff and the Infection Prevention and Control
team are doing to prevent healthcare associated infections (HAIs) at Teddington
Memorial Hospital (TMH) and what you and your visitors can do to help us.
What causes infections?
We all carry microorganisms (germs) on our skin or in our bodies which are normally
harmless. They are transferred from our hands when we touch other people, animals,
bodily fluids, surfaces, food etc. Patients may acquire germs without it causing them any
harm but in some cases it could lead to an infection. Although we all have natural
defence mechanisms, medical conditions, wounds and devices used in health care such
as catheters make us more vulnerable to infections.
It is not possible to prevent every infection acquired in hospital; a patient may infect
themselves with their own germs or may already have an infection when they come into
hospital. However if we all (staff, visitors, patients) adhere to some key precautions,
rates of infection can be reduced.
Hand Hygiene
Hand washing with soap and water or cleansing hands with alcohol hand rub is the best
way to prevent infection from spreading from person to person.
Information for patients
Infection Prevention and Control advice for people staying at
Teddington Memorial Hospital
Staff
 Staff must clean their hands with soap and water or alcohol hand rub before and
after every contact with their patients. If you are not sure if a member of staff has
cleaned their hands before they commence an examination/ treatment or any
type of personal care, please ask them!
 There are alcohol hand rub dispensers at the entrance to both our wards and at
the entrance to ward bay areas and single rooms. Clinical staff also carry small
personal alcohol hand rub dispensers in their uniform pockets for use at the point of care.
 We have a hand hygiene policy which our staff must adhere to at all times, regular hand
hygiene audits are undertaken in all our clinical services to monitor staff compliance with
our policy.
Issued: November 2014
Written by: HRCH Infection Prevention and Control team
Review date: November 2016
Version: 3.0
Visitors
 Please ensure that your visitors clean their hands with the alcohol hand rub (or soap and
water) before and after visiting you.
When should you clean your hands?
 You should wash your hands or use moist hand wipes as often as necessary and when
hands look or feel dirty.
 It is especially important to wash your hands after using the toilet/ commode and before you
eat.
 After blowing your nose/ coughing/ sneezing.
 If you need any help, the nursing staff will be happy to assist you.
Personal Hygiene
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Keeping your hands and body clean is important when you are in hospital. Bring personal
toiletries, including soap and clean flannels with you.
Gentlemen should bring their own razor with them for shaving.
The nursing staff will assist you if you need help to wash, bath or shower.
Always wear something on your feet for foot protection and cleanliness. A pair of slippers is
fine, but make sure they have some grip on the bottom.
Please do not touch or allow your visitors to touch any wounds, dressings or devices such
as catheters. If you need any help ask one of the nurses.
Visitors
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Your visitors should not visit you if they feel unwell or have an infection e.g. flu, chicken
pox, shingles or an undiagnosed rash. If someone wishes to visit you and they have been
unwell with diarrhoea and/or vomiting, please advise them not to visit until 48 hours after
their last episode of diarrhoea/ vomiting. Until this time they are still infectious and may
pass the illness on to other people.
Please ask your visitors to check with the nursing staff if they want to bring babies or young
children in to see you.
Visitors should not sit on your bed as this may transfer germs; chairs are available.
Your visitors must not use the patients’ toilet facilities; the nursing staff will direct them to
the public toilets.
Environmental cleaning
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Try to keep the top of your locker and bedside table reasonably free from clutter to enable
easier cleaning. It is ideal to have only one vase of flowers and no pot plants please, as they
can harbour small flies and fungi.
Your ward, bed area, locker and bedside table should be cleaned very day. If you or your
Issued: November 2014
Written by: HRCH Infection Prevention and Control team
Review date: November 2016
Version: 3.0
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visitors see something that has been missed during cleaning, please report it to the nurse in
charge and ask for it to be cleaned.
If you visit the bathroom or toilet and you are concerned that it does not look clean, please
report this immediately to the nurse in charge of the ward. Request that it is cleaned before
you use it. Please use another toilet in the meantime.
MRSA Screening
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We test all of our patients on admission to the inpatient wards for carriage of a germ called
MRSA. (MRSA stands for Meticillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus).
Staphylococcus aureus is a type of bacteria that is commonly found on the skin and in the
nostrils of about a third of healthy people.
MRSA is a variety of Staphylococcus aureus that has become resistant to meticillin (a type
of penicillin) and usually to some of the other antibiotics.
There is no way of knowing if you are colonised (carrying the germ on your body) as it does
not harm you and there are no symptoms. MRSA does not usually affect healthy people but
it can affect those who are ill or those who are in hospital. MRSA can cause harm when it
gets an opportunity to enter the body for example through a break in the skin.
A nurse will screen you for MRSA by swabbing your nose, throat and groin and, in some
cases, other areas as well. The swabs will be sent to the laboratory for testing.
If you are found to be carrying the germ, you may be moved into a single room to prevent
spread of MRSA to other patients. You will be given an antiseptic body/ hair wash and a
cream to use. This helps to remove MRSA from your hair, skin and nose and reduces the
chance of MRSA spreading to other parts of your body or to other patients.
Please tell the nursing staff if you have ever previously been colonised or had an MRSA
infection prior to this admission.
Isolation and Infection Prevention
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It is sometimes necessary to nurse patients with an infection or who are colonised with a
germ in a single room.
This is to reduce the risk of infections or antibiotic resistant germs spreading to other
patients.
The nursing staff will explain to you and your relatives/carers why you have been moved to
a single room and any precautions that must be taken.
Very occasionally we may need to move you to the other ward if a single room is not
available on your ward.
Your visitors should speak to the nursing staff before entering your room and follow any
instructions they are given. In some circumstances your visitors will be asked to wash their
hands with soap and water rather than use the alcohol hand rub. The method used will
depend on the type of infection.
Issued: November 2014
Written by: HRCH Infection Prevention and Control team
Review date: November 2016
Version: 3.0
Any concerns?
If you have any concerns or questions and would like to speak to someone about infection
prevention and control, please ask to speak to the nurse in charge or the matron.
Making a comment, suggestion or complaint
If you wish to make a comment, suggestion or complaint, please contact the Patient Experience
Officer at Thames House,180 High Street, Teddington
TW11 8HU, Telephone: 0800 953 0363
The Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) provide free, informal, confidential help and advice
for service users, carers and their families. You can contact the PALS officer on 0800 953 0363 or
[email protected]
Translation services
Hounslow and Richmond Community Healthcare NHS Trust has access to interpreters who can
speak other languages. This leaflet can be made available in large print, Braille or on audiotape
and a translation service is available. Please contact the PALS team for further information.
Issued: November 2014
Written by: HRCH Infection Prevention and Control team
Review date: November 2016
Version: 3.0