Des, the knight in shining armour and champion of hand hygiene, was an instant success with the many visitors to the schülke exhibition stand at the recent Infection Prevention Society (IPS) conference in Bournemouth. Des is the standard bearer for desderman® – schülke’s rapid acting hand disinfection gel, which is ranked number one by NHS Supply Chain.
Visitors were keen to enter the ‘Who is Des?’ competition from clues given on the exhibition stand. His true identity will be revealed in January 2012 and the winner will receive a Valentine’s visit from real life “Des” with chocolates and flowers.
There was much interest in desderman® Pure which is ranked number one by NHS Supply Chain in terms of efficacy, product evaluation, customer reviews and price. Formulated for hand disinfection in 30 seconds, desderman is an advanced rapid acting alcohol based hand rub and visitors to the IPS could not keep their hands off samples of desderman! Probably because desderman pure is effective against bacteria (Tb, MRSA, VRE), fungi and viruses (Inc. HBV, HCV, HIV, Polio, Herpes Simplex, Adeno, Rota and Vaccinia virus yet is gentle on the skin and suitable for frequent use.
Visitors were also fascinated by the new desderman Defender game (available to play online at www.schulke.co.uk). Trying out the game on the schülke exhibition stand, visitors challenged their colleagues to outwit the bugs and be crowned the desderman Defender Champion.
And if that was not enough activity for one exhibition stand, the winners of the schülke Hand Hygiene Champion of 2011 awards received their glittering trophies on the schülke stand from Julie Storr (Vice-President of the IPS). The winner was Dr Stephen Fowlie, Medical Director / Director of Infection Prevention and Control, Nottingham University NHS Trust for his dedication to hand hygiene improvement amongst medical staff. Dr Fowlie was nominated by Natalie Vaughan, Clinical Lead Infection Prevention and Control, who described Dr Fowlie as ‘one in a million’ who ‘leaves no stone unturned to promote good practice throughout the organisation’.
Mildred Ruwona, Senior Staff Nurse) at the inpatient unit, The Sussex Beacon, Brighton and Clair Philips from the Infection Prevention and Control team, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust were the two Hand Hygiene award runners up.
Jennie Leleux (Public Health Nurse, NHS Brighton & Hove) nominated Mildred who works in a Care Centre for men and women with HIV/AIDS related illnesses. Mildred has successfully introduced the concept of the ‘Five Moments’ in the Centre and ensures that ‘clients are actively encouraged to challenge staff about their hand hygiene routine.’
Clair Philips was recommended for the award by her colleague Craig Bradley. Clair ‘focuses on facilitating ward managers to take ownership of the compliance rates in their area.’ She has developed ‘a new hand hygiene audit tool that takes the focus of hand hygiene right to the point of care where the risk is.’
Overall it was a highly successful and very busy conference for the schülke team.
schülke UK Ltd
0114 254 3500
