Tartu University Hospital

The motto of the Hospital's Infection Control Service is: visible action against invisible forces.

The Infection Control Service was established in 2003. Its fields of activity include

• monitoring of hospital infection,
• rational use of antibiotics,
• monitoring of antibiotic-resistant bacteria,
• safety of staff,
• pre- and post-graduation training in the field of infection control,
• research work in the field of infection control.

In 2007, the Infection Control Service started the "Wash your hands!" campaign in order to improve the awareness of their staff as well as patients in hand hygiene. In relation to that, the Infection Control Service developed hand hygiene guidelines which prescribe unified requirements for all employees. In addition to the staff, all patients shall also follow the hand hygiene guidelines. Good hand hygiene is the easiest, cheapest and most effective method of avoiding intra-hospital infection. Similar campaigns for reminding people about simple truths have been organised by hospitals both in Europe and in other countries. The service shall also plan organising for similar hygiene campaigns in the future.

Achievements

• Hospital infections are diminishing
• Total use of antibiotics is diminishing
• The number of resistant bacteria is decreasing
• Safety of staff: blood-spread infections are under control
• Articles in highly respected science magazines which are also reflected in the ISI Web of Science database.