Prevention and control measures
Infection prevention and control measures at Royal Free London hospitals
Infection prevention and control measures aim to protect patients, visitors and staff from acquiring an infection and to control infection transmission when it is identified. The basic principles of infection prevention and control are:
- environmental hygiene – providing a clean and safe hospital for patients to receive the medical care they need
- trained staff, who will always act to prevent infections, and recognise how to control the spread of any identified new infection
- to provide a high standard of support services alongside clinical care, such as laundry, sterile medical equipment, waste management and cleaning
- to provide information to patients and carers about infection prevention and what to expect when an infection is identified
- to include patients in the provision of good infection prevention measures by encouraging and enabling good hygiene and handwashing and providing information to enable patients to make choices in their care.
Good hygiene at the Royal Free London – what can you do to help?
The single most important tool we have to aid us in the prevention of spreading infection and enforcing good hygiene is to have staff decontaminate their hands before and after caring for you by hand washing or using an alcohol-based cleanser. If you are worried that we might have forgotten, it is OK to remind us! We welcome your help in keeping you safe.