Trust asks visitors and staff to stop, gel and go!

Date: 17 October 2019

stop gel go

To mark International Infection Prevention Week, Medway NHS Foundation Trust has launched a Stop! Gel! Go! campaign to promote better hand hygiene among staff, patients and visitors to Medway Maritime Hospital.

Illnesses such as the common cold, flu and norovirus (sickness and diarrhoea) are spread by touching surfaces as we go about our daily business, and then touching our mouths or food that we eat.

By raising the profile of hand hygiene and its importance in protecting everyone’s health, the hospital aims to reduce infection rates in the hospital and more widely across Medway and Swale.

James Devine, Chief Executive of Medway NHS Foundation Trust, said:

“The safety of our patients is of the utmost importance to us and that is why we are asking our patients, visitors and staff to Stop! Gel! Go!. We want all members of the community to feel confident that we are doing everything possible to reduce the risk of infection. We also encourage visitors to challenge staff and ask them if they have washed their hands before providing care.”

Stay safe – keep your hands clean

Clean your hands, with both soap and water or with hand gel, every time you:

  • Have visibly dirty hands – use soap and water
  • Plan to eat and before and after preparing food
  • Use the toilet
  • Blow your nose or when coughing into your hands
  • Touch pets or other animals
  • Visit a sick friend or relative.

Make sure that when you clean your hands, you do it thoroughly. As well as your palms and fingers, make sure that you also wash the backs of your hands and in-between your fingers and wrists.

Hand gel is available throughout the hospital, including in the main entrance and inside every ward/department. If you notice that the hand gel is empty, please inform a member of staff.

  • Summary:

    To mark International Infection Prevention Week, Medway NHS Foundation Trust has launched a Stop! Gel! Go! campaign to promote better hand hygiene among staff, patients and visitors to Medway Maritime Hospital.