Love is ... happy healthy hands

Yesterday was Valentine's Day and to celebrate the Emergency Assessment Unit (EAU) team organised their own Valentine's Day festivities with a difference.
The team held a fun-packed day educating and challenging staff, and EAU patients and visitors about the importance of hand hygiene with the theme 'happy healthy hands'.

The unit was decorated with balloons, posters and love hearts and staff wore 'happy healthy hands' t-shirts and badges. Patients were given leaflets about the day and the importance of hand hygiene. They could also try using a 'glow and tell' machine to see how well they washed their hands.

Each area of the unit set up its own 'happy healthy hands' activities and Angela Thompson, Head of Standards, judged each area to see whose was most effective in communicating the 'happy healthy hands' message. For example the SSEU held a 'Handrub Hunt', and the Paediatric area of the Emergency Department gave children Monopoly-style money to hand out to staff when they saw them clean their hands: the staff member with the most money at the end of the day won a prize!

Read more information about infection control at Addenbrooke’s