Glove Use Awareness Campaign

Project Completed as part of the Hampshire Hospitals Green Team Competition 2023

Glove Use Awareness Campaign Due to the growth in use of PPE items and many studies highlighting the misuse of non-sterile gloves two members of the Infection Prevention and Control Team at Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (HHFT) decided to run a project on this area. Aim The aim of the project was to reduce inappropriate/unnecessary glove use in two trial wards. A glove audit tool was created and an audit was completed twice a day on both of the trial wards to identify the scale of the unnecessary glove use. Following this a staff awareness and engagement campaign was run. Key staff were engaged and a variety of media, posters, questionnaires etc. were used for staff and patient engagement. Impact The findings were that 28% of gloves used were unnecessary usage. Following the engagement programme there was a 7% reduction in unnecessary glove use. Projected across a year this equates to potential annual savings of 804 kgCO2e and £992. The aim is to work towards rolling out the project Trustwide and to further decrease the level of unnecessary glove use.