Hand Hygiene & Healthcare

At Foursquare Healthcare we have built a reputation as a healthcare medical supplier covering all the typical requirements of any organisation involved with providing care. Hand hygiene is perhaps the most widely applicable issue we can offer solutions for, as part of our range of infection control medical supplies. For many types of businesses and workplaces, hand hygiene is still an overlooked area that can contribute to dangerous situations, even though the solutions are often very simple and affordable.

Most people understand the basic concept of infections being transmitted between people via germs or microbes. They are most commonly found on the hands, and therefore easily transferred to objects or other people through the course of normal activities and work. For anyone working in healthcare, it’s extremely common for harmful microorganisms to be acquired on the hands through any direct contact with patients, and these can survive on the surface of the skin for some time, in some cases even multiplying. This can lead to a high risk of cross contamination, and severely limits an organisation’s capacity to control the spread of infections.

Although this is common knowledge, especially among trained healthcare professionals, studies have repeatedly revealed that standards across the industry are disappointing, with less than 50% of workers in the sector washing their hands as often as they should. As a result, up to 5% of patients in UK hospitals are affected each day by the spread of healthcare-related infections, and staff are also at risk.

Apart from minimising the amount of direct contact with patients or surfaces as much as possible, thorough hand sanitisation is an extremely simple and effective solution that should be used more. The most effective infection control medical supplies for hand washing are usually alcohol-based sanitisers, as these kill harmful germs quickly without excessively drying out hands. This is a great benefit since many healthcare professionals may need to clean their hands dozens of times in a day. Using soap and water would have a negative effect on the skin and in most cases be less effective.

We stock a broad choice of alcohol gel and other suitable disinfectant products for washing hands, all of which are perfectly suited for work environments where medical care is being provided. Foursquare Healthcare provides a one-stop solution for all the supplies required by most healthcare organisations and businesses, so we welcome you to browse our website and contact us if you require any more information.