Spice Girls song boosts hospital hand-washing rates

NURSES at the Queen's Medical Centre really, really, really wanna get patients washing their hands.

Staff at the hospital's maxillofacial department have recorded a cover of a Spice Girls song to urge visitors to use cleaning gel.

The song – to the tune of the girl group's 1998 hit Stop – plays every time a patient walks past one of two life-size cardboard cut-outs.

The project has seen patient hand-washing rates climb from 25% to 91% in just two weeks, according to an audit by the department.

And nurses have now recorded a Christmas song and a Diana Ross cover as well.

Department sister Sue Hall said she hoped the songs would help tackle infection rates at the hospital.

"We laughed about it and it has made the patients smile," she said.

"But sometimes we switch if off because you can have too much of a good thing."

Staff recorded the song, with the words "stop right now, please gel your hands, you know it makes us happy if you have clean hands", last month.

Cardboard cut-outs of nurses across the QMC and City Hospital have speech bubbles saying "stop, wash your hands".

Ms Hall said: "There was no-one using the gel before so we put up posters and notices on the walls, but they didn't work either.

"We have a lot of patients who are very nervous so having this song has helped them."

The maxillofacial department treats injuries to the head, neck, face and jaws.

Both City Hospital and the QMC are beating their monthly targets for keeping down rates of MRSA and clostridium difficile.

Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust recently launched its Hand In Hand, Fighting Infection Together campaign, which concentrates on hand hygiene, cleanliness, MRSA screening and appropriate use of antibiotics.