Nursery School Owner Calls For Improved Hand Hygiene

It was revealed earlier this week that three cases of E.coli at a nursery in Wales had been confirmed. Donna Row, owner of the Yorley Barn Nursery in Little Cornard, Suffolk, says improved hand hygiene in educational settings could help to prevent the spread of infections such as E.coli, colds and stomach bugs.

“I am in no way criticising the hygiene standards at the nursery in Wales, however these unfortunate circumstances do give us the opportunity to remind people of the importance of good hand hygiene in educational settings. Due to the playful nature of children and the close pupil to pupil, staff to staff and staff to pupil contact infections can be spread easily. The only effective way to prevent the spread of infections is by the implementation of correct hand washing techniques,” said Mrs Row.

“I am convinced the time has come for all educational settings to introduce stringent hand hygiene policies, not only would this reduce the risk of unusual outbreaks such as E.coli but it would also dramatically reduce the spread of common infections such as the cold, stomach bugs, sore throats and ear infections which cause children and staff to take days off school.”

Microbiologists and infection control experts have long campaigned for improved hand hygiene to reduce the spread of infections, with the issue coming to the fore during the recent global swine flu outbreak.

Yorely Barn has recently been working as educational consultants on the development of the revolutionary Buster hand hygiene kits, which have been designed especially to reduce the spread of infections in nurseries and primary schools.

The Buster packs use cartoon characters to take children on a fun, educational journey about the importance of hand hygiene to prevent the spread of infections. The packs use an ultra-violet light ‘glow box’ to ensure children are using the correct hand washing techniques. A special glitter lotion is applied to the hands and then washed off. Hands are then placed under the colourful Buster ‘glow box’ and any remaining lotion will fluoresce showing any flaws in the hand washing process. The Buster packs also come with exciting, fun-packed posters, stickers, certificates and an interactive activity book to teach the children about the importance of hand hygiene.

Mrs Row added: “Through my involvement in the Buster project and the in-depth training I have received I now have a thorough understanding of the importance of hand hygiene, and I am fortunate enough to be in a position where I can pass that expertise on the my staff and children. We are already using the Buster pack at Yorley Barn and the children love it, they really engage with the characters and have a lot of fun learning how to wash their hands properly.”

The DaRo Group, the company behind the Buster concept, has more than 20 years experience of developing ultra-violent light hand hygiene products. Its renowned hand hygiene inspection cabinets (from which the Buster version has been modelled) are used for staff training purposes by NHS organisations across the UK and have been accredited with playing a major role in the reduction of hospital superbugs such MRSA.

Julian Cant, General Manager, at the DaRo Group, said: “Our hand hygiene inspection cabinets played a significant role in reducing health care associated infections and it has now become clear there is a need for similar hand hygiene attention in educational settings and this is why we developed the Buster packs. We believe these packs will play a major role in significantly reducing the spread of infections in education settings leading children to happier, healthier and better educated lives.”