National hand hygiene compliance report: 1 November 2021 to 28 February 2022

This report presents results for the period 1 November 2021 to 28 February 2022 including national hand hygiene compliance for:

• 20 district health boards (DHBs)
• 22 private surgical hospitals (PSHs).

Data was extracted on 7 March 2022.

Compliance is measured as part of the Health Quality & Safety Commission’s (the Commission’s) Hand Hygiene New Zealand (HHNZ) programme, one of its two current infection prevention and control (IPC) programmes. These targeted improvement initiatives aim to reduce the harm and cost of healthcare associated infections within Aotearoa New Zealand’s health and disability sector.

The HHNZ programme uses the World Health Organization’s ‘5 moments for hand hygiene’ framework to drive culture change and establish best hand hygiene practice for every patient, every time.

Achievements in this audit period

• National compliance for DHBs was 86.7 percent, compared with 87.5 percent in the previous audit period.
• National compliance for PSHs was 82.9 percent, compared with 82.4 percent in the previous audit period.
• Nineteen DHBs and 17 PSHs achieved at or above the national target of 80 percent compliance.

Well done to all the hand hygiene auditors, coordinators and gold auditor trainers who continued to audit, educate and promote hand hygiene over the last year while responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. Compliance has remained high over this period, which is important for patient safety.