In times of Corona, new challenges have arisen for practices. There are requirements from the government against which measures had to be taken to prevent infections. In addition, there are ways in which the risk can be reduced voluntarily. But what are these and what contribution do they make to hygiene?
What hygiene measures are there from the legislator?
Of course, there were already very strict rules for clinics and doctors’ practices regarding disinfection and sterilisation. It is not for nothing that all facilities have a top modern autoclave with which medical instruments can be perfectly cleaned. Such specifications were developed over decades by the medical authorities and then made binding for general safety. There are whole catalogues full of regulations, all of which must be adhered to.
In times of Corona, new ones were added. They all aim to prevent infections via the respiratory tract or smear infections. This is because Covid 19 is a highly contagious virus. Viruses, in turn, die quickly in dry environments. They can only move in moisture, within aerosols. They must be cleverly rendered harmless.
For this reason, the legislator has decreed that all those present in surgeries should wear masks. In the past, these were standard medical masks. In the meantime, the protection level has been raised to FFP2 or KN 95. In addition, the number of patients allowed to be in the waiting room at the same time has been limited.
What hygiene measures additionally improve the situation?
One of the simplest options has proven to be that the windows should always be opened. Some practices even allow people to sit on the balcony to wait. There are also some manufacturers who offer air filters. With their help, aerosols are almost completely neutralised.
It was also very helpful to rearrange the practice rooms so that patients with signs of a covid infection are placed in a completely different area. For this, large signs pay off. Housing infected patients separately prevents them from spreading within a larger group. Because even if no one becomes infected, everyone present will otherwise have to be quarantined.
A wise measure is to entrust someone with the task of cleaning the places in the premises where smears could be found several times a day. This includes, above all, handles in the practice. But also the stair railings outside or the buttons in the lift. It is helpful to look at how patients typically behave and where they touch things with their hands. If you clean such hotspots at short intervals, you will eliminate the most important possibilities of infection in a relatively quick and inexpensive way.