Paul Levy was President at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital in Boston. He led a public campaign to eliminate hospital acquired infections from dirty surfaces, hands, equipment. He was not admired by all hospital professionals and administrators. One lecture he gave at the Lahey Clinic Burlington MA was only open to staff, not patients. Hospitals did not want the public to be aware of this problem. He resigned after his relationship with a hospital employee was revealed. The Trustees fined him $50,000.
When I mention this issue to doctors when I am a patient they always get upset. One put some lotion on her hands from a wall mounted dispenser of hand cleaner, and said, "See? I washed my hands." Doctors have egos and think they know better than their patients. My doctor does not listen to me. I read medical reports and often learn about studies before he does. I suspect that the problem has to do with the arrogance of medical professionals. If they are superior as they believe this should not be an issue. Cleaning is for the uneducated, not for the elite.
A method needs to be found to get through this fog of superiority. Not all professionals read medical journals. One way is to embarrass them with massive media campaigns for two or three years. I found arrogant administrators at Harvard do respond to embarrassing media stories. They seldom listen to polite constructive criticism.
The pattern I read on Levy's blog explained the system they implemented to address the problem in some way. When a doctor enters the examination room they go to the sink and wash their hands as they ask the patient, "So what brings you here today?" That way the patient sees the doctor washing his hands and the doctor begins the visit at the same time. The issue of dirty surfaces, equipment and beds etc, is a more difficult matter. It requires constant cleaning more than once a day. But that requires human labor or some other method which would require moving the patients often.
It is shameful that more than 100 years after Louis Pasteur discovered that infections can kill, when doctors ridiculed him because he was not a doctor they still, ignore this basic method of not doing harm.
[From article]
"Contaminated surfaces are to blame. Most C. diff victims pick up the germ in the hospital; most of the rest, in a nursing home or doctor’s office or during a previous hospital stay.
There’s an answer. The Mayo Clinic reduced C. diff by 79 percent in a pilot project by doing one thing: wiping the frequently touched surfaces around patients’ beds once a day with a bleach wipe.
[. . .]
Keep the surfaces around the patient’s bed meticulously clean, and C. diff can be nearly eradicated. We have the knowledge; what’s lacking is the will.
[. . .]
If you’re going into the hospital, bring a canister of bleach wipes and a pair of gloves. It could save your life.
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/killer_hospitals_pretend_to_fight_U2bDnIWzuSOhMzRSlvn0UP
A killer hospitals pretend to fight
Betsy McCaughey
New York Post
Last Updated: 1:03 AM, May 2, 2012
Posted: 11:16 PM, May 1, 2012
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