Manacor Hospital underwent a complex audit
Manacor Hospital has been awarded the 2025 European Excellence in Hand Hygiene distinction, promoted by the World Health Organisation (WHO). The Hospital Infection Control Unit—comprising two nurses and three nursing care technicians—works in coordination with the Hospital Pharmacy, Microbiology, and Internal Medicine departments. It has received this prestigious recognition at the European level for its strategy to reduce the incidence of healthcare-associated infections and ensure patient safety.
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WHO Awards European Excellence in Hand Hygiene to Manacor Hospital
The hospital underwent a complex audit led by Professor Didier Pittet, Director of Training and the Infection Control Program at Geneva University Hospital, and Professor Andreas Widmer, Deputy Director of the Division of Infectious Diseases and Hospital Epidemiology at the University Hospital of Basel, with the collaboration of the company B. Braun. The audit evaluated hand hygiene techniques and knowledge applied in the ICU and all inpatient wards, including interviews with patients and healthcare professionals.
The 2025 European Excellence in Hand Hygiene award recognised the cross-disciplinary role of the Infection Control Unit in supporting other hospital services to ensure the prevention of healthcare-associated infections.
The hospital’s hand hygiene strategy includes: training healthcare professionals in proper hand hygiene techniques, appropriate management of patients carrying transmissible infectious diseases, participation in the PROA group to combat antibiotic resistance, continuous review of procedures, observation of hand hygiene compliance across all hospital services, and participation in the hospital’s Master Plan to reduce environmental contamination and prevent infections caused by pathogenic fungi.
This year, in celebration of World Hand Hygiene Day, the WHO promoted the campaign:
“Gloves when indicated. Hand hygiene always”
as an effective and low-cost measure to prevent healthcare-associated infections and the spread of multidrug-resistant microorganisms. It is estimated that up to 30% of infectious diseases could be avoided with proper hand hygiene.
The strategy aims to emphasise the need for continuous improvement in infection prevention and control through actions such as:
- Healthcare professionals must perform hand hygiene at the five moments recommended by WHO:
- Before touching a patient
- Before clean/aseptic procedures
- After exposure to body fluids
- After touching a patient
- After touching the patient’s surroundings
- Hand hygiene is a simple, effective, and cost-efficient measure to prevent healthcare-associated infections.
- Healthcare professionals must use gloves appropriately: wearing gloves does not replace hand hygiene. Hand hygiene is recommended both before and after glove use to prevent microorganism transmission.
- Proper disposal and segregation of personal protective equipment (PPE) waste must be ensured after use.