In August 2023, the Poltava Regional Clinical Hospital opened its new infection prevention and control (IPC) centre to reduce the risk of hospital-acquired infections. In the past years, the hospital has made consistent steps in enhancing its IPC practices, from training all health-care workers on the importance of hand hygiene to establishing the IPC centre, working with the WHO Country Office in Ukraine and setting an example of how co-investment multiplies the benefits for patients.
Over the span of several years, the Country Office has steadily supported the Poltava Regional Clinical Hospital, offering training in IPC and antimicrobial resistance. The training was open to all health-care workers at the hospital, ranging from surgeons to anaesthetists, ensuring a uniform foundation to discuss key issues and changes in practice. WHO supported the procurement of hand sanitizers for each department within the hospital, alongside arranging specialized training sessions for health-care workers focused on proper hand hygiene practices. Vita Postolnyk, an epidemiologist, emphasizes that this robust start paved the way for the implementation of comprehensive IPC programmes throughout the hospital.
From an endoscopic department to an IPC centre
The next IPC milestone for the hospital was receiving endoscope reprocessing equipment donated by WHO. In the case of such complex instruments, manual disinfection is not sufficient, as it carries a high risk of transmitting infection from one patient to another.
“It takes around 20 minutes for 1 person to be examined, and the more people come, the more they could be endangered if endoscopes are not reprocessed properly. Now, as WHO supplied us with disinfection machines, the safety of our patients is ensured,” Postolnyk affirms.
Following several rounds of meticulous cleaning cycles, the endoscopes are put into special drying cabinets, also purchased with the help of the Country Office. These are positioned between the reprocessing and endoscopy rooms in a way that doctors can open them from both sides, thus, eliminating the risk of accidental contamination after disinfection.
The hospital’s management also undertook renovations at its own expense and created a dedicated endoscopy department featuring several cabinets, which is a good example of co-investment where WHO and the health-care facility combine their efforts to enhance health-care services.
“WHO stays committed to supporting health-care facilities in their IPC practices to ensure quality of care and patients’ and health workers’ safety. It is invaluable to see local capacity growing and local initiatives arising with our contribution,” says Dr Jarno Habicht, WHO Representative in Ukraine.
Postolnyk shares an example of a surgeon working on the frontline, who frequently sends pictures showing the challenging conditions under which he has to provide medical care. These conditions are often unacceptable. Postolnyk underlines that there is a huge difference between circumstances on the frontline and what a hospital can offer.
“While doctors on the frontline might have no choice, we, here in the hospital, must do everything possible to equip our facilities to prevent complications due to poor disinfection.”
The Poltava Regional Clinical Hospital is the first to establish an IPC centre in Ukraine. The centre includes a bacteriological laboratory, a health-care-associated infection unit and a central sterilization department.
“It is very helpful that we are all united into one centre, as we can now coordinate efforts and use resources more efficiently,” Postolnyk explains.
Strengthening IPC practices in the Poltava Regional Clinical Hospital was made possible with the financial assistance of the European Union (EU) within the EU and WHO initiative on health system development in Ukraine.