When running any kind of clinical business or medical practice, growing your business is important, but you have to make sure that you’re also keeping it to the standards of the industry. One of those standards that is most important is the cleanliness and hygiene of your facilities. Here, we’re going to look at some of the occasionally neglected parts of your practice that you should ensure you’re doing your best to keep up to the standards as the rest of it.
Sanitisation is clean to running a healthy and safe clinic and keeping it hygienic for your patients. Make sanitisation of surfaces and equipment after they have been used a part of your staff’s training and duties, with easy access to disinfectant wipes and sprays in all rooms. Make sure that gloves and masks are available for those using cleaning chemicals, too.
There are some areas that will require extra attention compared to others, and floors are one such area that can get rather unhygienic, rather quickly. If you have any carpeted areas, then you will want to vacuum them regularly and wash them at least once a week. Ensure hard floors are checked for and cleaned of spills regularly, too.
Another area that is going to require constant maintenance is any surface in treatment rooms that your patients are likely to come in contact with. You should make sure that you clean away all residue, including water spots and dust particles, left after a patient leaves any treatment area. Otherwise, there is an increased chance of pathogens and bacteria being spread from patient to patient. Some practices use UV lights to quickly remove bacteria from services, as well as cleaning products.
Because of the high moisture content, hospital sinks, drains, and taps quickly become a breeding ground for pathogens, including some of the more antibiotic-resistant kinds. Aside from cleaning them with a hydrogen peroxide mixture around twice a week, you may want to look into installations like a green drain. These barriers can stop the spread of biofilm that can house infectious diseases and can make sure that nothing from the drain can make its way back up into the sink.
Although a relatively new field, robotics is already playing a huge role in keeping some clinics and medical practices clean. For instance, there are UV drones that can make their way around your practice, routinely cleaning floors and ensuring high-grade disinfection of highly trafficked areas. It can be a lot to rely on your already busy clinical staff to handle all of the cleaning themselves, so keep an eye out for technological solutions that can share some of the burdens.
If you’re serious about keeping your practice healthy and hygienic, then you likely already invest time and effort into keeping it clean and well-maintained. But just make sure you follow the tips above to level up your hygiene to the best standards.