ProNurse

By Lachlan Mackinnon

Research revealed a quarter of mobiles and palmtop computers are contaminated with bacteria – including MRSA.

They are not covered by increasingly strict infection control measures – such as stringent handwashing – which have been imposed in hospitals The measures have been introduced over a number of years. And the need for them was highlighted by scandals suchas the Clostridium difficile outbreak at the Vale of Leven hospital in Dunbartonshire.

It was linked to 18 deaths.

Phones used by hospital staff carry bugs “known to cause healthcare acquired infection” says the report – yet they’re being used more than ever.

And 65 per cent of doctors say they are using mobiles while treating patients. Few – as little as eight per cent – ever clean their phones. The Edinburgh University-led report in the Journal of Hospital Infection said it was a “situation which allows the likelihood that healthcare workers touch mobiles during patient care without performing hand hygiene”.

And phones could “provide a reservoir of potentially pathogenic bacteria” in hospitals.

Report co-author Richard Brady, a research fellow at the Medical Research Council’s human genetics unit based at Edinburgh’s Western General Hospital, warned doctors are often unaware of the threat posed by mobiles.

He said: “Our concern is that many individuals may not be aware of the potential of these devices to spread bacteria or how to clean their phones of bacteria.”

Some 78 per cent of health workers surveyed favoured an increase in doctors using mobiles in hospitals to speed up communication between departments and reduce medical error.

More than half – 56 per cent – believed nurses should also be allowed to use mobiles, while 49 per cent felt the same about patients.

While phone use is banned from operating theatres for noise reasons, the contamination threat has been largely ignored, the report found.

The authors warned that was “of particular concern”.

They fear mobiles and pagers could act as “Trojan horses”, carrying bugs such as MRSA into hospitals.

In one test, anaesthetists’ decontaminated hands were tested for bugs after a a call on their mobile. They found one in 10 had bacteria.

They suggest that anti-bacterial covers and ultra-violet light sanitisers could be developed to decontaminate phones.

© 2009 Daily Record; Glasgow (UK). Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved.

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