PATIENTS and visitors to the Royal Hampshire County Hospital in Winchester will now be greeted on the wards by a friendly voice reminding them to wash their hands.
In the latest step in the fight against infection, speaking hand wash alerts have been installed by Winchester and Eastleigh Healthcare Trust, the first trust in the south central area to use the technology at the entrance to all wards.
The small metal boxes fitted to the wall near the hand washing stations are supplied by PIPA Healthcare, and are funded by the Strategic Health Authority.
The recorded messages are movement activated and alert the person entering the clinical area of the need to wash their hands at the sinks. The messages start at 8am and stop at 8pm so that patients sleep is not disturbed.
The cost of the units for three years is £11,340, which includes all maintenance and repair and support from Pipamedia.
Sue Dailly, infection control lead nurse, said: "Speaking boxes are a prompt you can't fail to notice and it all helps to remind people of the importance of washing hands."
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