On november 8th, Sani Nudge attended the annual meeting of the Danish Society for Hospital Hygiene and Sterile Supply. Interesting presentations and panel discussions provided us with new knowledge and great insights!
“€100 million is paid to Danish patients each year by the Danish patient compensation fund because of the implications of hospital acquired infections. The main reason for this large number of infections is without a doubt poor hospital hygiene. So why is hygiene still not a priority by Danish hospitals?”
That was the starting point of the debate between Bent Hansen, former director of the Danish Regions, Christian Busch, Priest of the biggest hospital in Denmark and Hans Jørn Kolmos, a leading professor within hospital hygiene.
Our key take-aways of the debate are:
- If we bring down the number of infections:
- We will solve the issue of overcrowded wards.
- We can move money to improvement of hospital hygiene instead of to patient compensations
- We need better ways to track what cause the infections.
- We cannot do anything without data. We need it to convince politicians!
- Patients lose their trust in healthcare workers when hygiene is not prioritized.
