Wollongong Hospital has come in above the national benchmark for hand hygiene practices, new figures show.
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The federal government on Tuesday released data on the MyHospitals website about how often staff at 233 public hospitals clean their hands, against an interim benchmark of 70 per cent.
It is the first time such information has been made publicly available.
Wollongong Hospital recorded a hygenine rate of 78.5 per cent, while Bulli Hospital recorded a rate of 77.6 per cent.
The data is based on audits of hand hygiene moments - when there is a perceived or actual risk of pathogen transmission from one surface to another via someone’s hands - in public hospitals between July and October last year.
There were 4,655 hand hygiene moments at Wollongong Hospital in the four-month period and 219 at Bulli Hospital.
The MyHospitals figures show that about half of the country’s major public hospitals are above the benchmark, while just over 30 per cent were similar to the current standard.Around 19 per cent were below the benchmark.
‘‘This is the sort of information that has been available to governments and bureaucrats but not to patients,’’ Federal Health Minister Tanya Plibersek told AAP.
‘‘This will give patients an opportunity to ... have look at their local hospital and see how it compares with other hospitals.
‘‘More importantly, I think, it’ll give doctors and nurses an opportunity and an incentive to do the best patient care that they’re capable of.’’