Pilot testing and evaluation of the GPSC and the WHO Guidelines on Hand Hygiene in Health Care (Advanced Draft)
General information
- The GPSC is a core programme of the WHO World Alliance for Patient Safety (WAPS), a programme addressing risks to patients receiving health care.
- The topic chosen for the first GPSC is health care-associated infection (HAI) and has the theme "Clean Care is Safer Care" with hand hygiene promotion as the cornerstone.
- Newly developed and evidence-based Guidelines on Hand Hygiene in Health Care (Advanced Draft) (WHO Guidelines) have been issued. The use of a multimodal strategy is recommended for the implementation of the guidelines. At the heart of the strategy is a recommendation for a system change - making alcohol-based handrubs available at the point of patient care. The strategy includes 5 different phases: facility preparedness, baseline assessment, hand hygiene improvement, follow-up assessment, and review.
- WHO has prepared a Pilot Implementation Pack (PIP) to facilitate the local implementation of the hand hygiene improvement strategy around the world. The PIP enables local adaptation of the strategy and recommends that health-care facilities develop their own action plans based on the multimodal approach.
Pilot test sites
- Following the WHO framework, 6 health-care facilities in 6 countries have been selected as Pilot Test Sites to work closely with WHO in the testing and evaluation of the WHO Guidelines.
- The aim of this testing phase is to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of the recommendations expressed in the guidelines in a wide range of different healthcare settings and learn from the successes and shortcomings.
Complementary Test Sites
- A large number of sites have volunteered to actively participate in the implementation and evaluation of the WHO Guidelines by using all or some of the implementation tools available in the Pilot Implementation Pack.
- Participation is open to all health-care facilities around the world. WHO, through the WAPS, is keen to work in a targeted capacity with the Facility and will conclude a formal agreement with each Facility.
- To take part in the implementation and evaluation, the following is required:
- electronic submission of the enrolment form;
- participation in a specifically designed web-based community forum;
- assessment of a limited set of parameters during the implementation;
- and a short written report to the WHO at the end of the implementation as formal feedback on feasibility and appropriateness of tools.
- To participate in the web-based community forum, the Facility will receive an exclusive access address upon enrolment.
- Results and feedback from the Facility will form part of the overall global evaluation of the Clean Care is Safer Care initiative and will feed into a final report about the achievements of the first GPSC.
- WHO reserves, at its own discretion, all rights in the acceptance of requests for participation in the Programme.
All reasonable precautions have been taken by the World Health Organization to verify the information contained in the Guidelines and the Pilot Implementation Pack. However, the published material is being distributed without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied. The responsibility for the interpretation and use of the material lies with the reader. In no event shall the World Health Organization be liable for damages arising from its use.