Clean up and “give soap a chance” says MRSA Action UK

Give Soap a Chance has been embraced by the public, business organisations and schools across Hull and Yorkshire region. Its aim, to cut down on infections within the community by encouraging proper handwashing, has struck a chord with people everywhere.

Give Soap a Chance was launched in March this year by Hull and East Yorkshire NHS Trust, which capitalised on its success as one of the best in the country at tackling healthcare infections within its hospitals by taking its hand-washing message out into the local community.

Eileen Henderson, Assistant Medical Director at Hull and East Yorkshire NHS Trust, is leading the campaign and was delighted when MRSA Action UK joined the partnership to help promote this campaign. MRSA Action UK fully endorses this campaign, soap and water is more effective on many of the viruses and bacteria we commonly face, hand gels are good in clinical care, but nothing beats the efficacy of soap and water, and of course effective handwashing.

“This is a great campaign and simple too. People often think that infections are something you get if you are in hospital, and don’t think flu or tummy upsets are caused by infections. It’s not just hospital superbugs that cause health problems and sometimes cost people their lives”.

Good hand hygiene is regarded as the single most cost-effective way of tackling infections spread by unclean hands. These include food poisoning and diarrhoea, viruses such as colds and flu, and more serious conditions such as MRSA. In the UK an estimated 32.9-million working days are lost each year through stomach bugs, flu and simple infections.

We hope the Department of Health will embrace this campaign and consider its use in a National Public Information Campaign to reduce the risks from infections that we know is now long overdue.