Disposable non-sterile gloves play a vital role in healthcare – when used correctly they protect patients and staff from potential infection.
But when gloves aren’t needed, good hand hygiene is the best way to protect you and the people in your care.
This year, the theme for this year’s World Hand Hygiene Day on 5 May is ‘It might be gloves. It’s always hand hygiene’.
Across NHSScotland, we all need to play our part in protecting our planet as well as our people by only using gloves when they’re needed.
By reducing unnecessary use of gloves, we can:
- reduce risk to patients and staff (by reducing cross-infection, including those infections which are resistant to antibiotics)
- reduce skin irritation / contact dermatitis
When are disposable, non-sterile gloves needed – and when are they not needed?
Gloves are needed in some circumstances – they protect you from potential infection where there’s a risk of exposure to blood, body fluids, broken skin and hazardous drugs and chemicals.
They’re not needed when touching a patient if there’s no risk of contact with body fluids – for example, when:
- giving vaccinations
- doing clinical observations like blood pressure
- comforting people in your care
- helping patients eat or drink
- pushing a chair or trolley, or helping patients to mobilise
- doing administrative tasks like using a computer or phone
How can reducing unnecessary use of gloves help NHSScotland become more sustainable?
Gloves have been the most procured item since the start of the pandemic, with over 1.2 billion gloves issued to health and social care settings since 1 March 2020. And they have a significant carbon footprint, travelling thousands of miles to get here.
This is where we come in, as Professor Sir Gregor Smith, Chief Medical Officer for Scotland, explains: “We can all help to reduce our carbon footprint by only using disposable gloves when needed. And it doesn’t stop there.
“Gloves are single use items that can’t be recycled – so by minimising unnecessary glove use, we can reduce waste too, and save money that can be re-invested back into patient care.
“Small changes made by many people, many times over, soon mount up. Together we can make a big difference and help NHSScotland towards a climate-resilient, low-carbon, sustainable future.”
Sharing knowledge – updated training modules now available
This year’s focus on glove awareness emphasises just how critical it is to maintain and share knowledge about hand hygiene, explains Lesley Shepherd, Head of Programme, Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Professionals in NHS Education for Scotland (NES): “Hand hygiene is the most effective way to keep people safe from infection.
“NES hosts a wide range of resources to support infection prevention and control (IPC) education and training on TURAS Learn, including the Scottish IPC Education Pathway (SIPCEP) which is aligned to the National Infection Prevention and Control Manual.
“We’ve recently updated the hand hygiene module, and you can also find a newly updated eLearning module on waste too. Knowing how to dispose of waste safely and correctly will help us all to make NHSScotland more sustainable while keeping people safe and saving money too.”
“I’d encourage everyone to visit the IPC Zone to build or refresh their knowledge and share it with others.”
Visit the IPC Zone within TURAS Learn to learn more about hand hygiene.