World Health Organization (WHO) has carried out the study on hospital infections control in Montenegro, at the request of the Ministry of Health. The study has shown that hospitals in Montenegro are at level three (intermediary) out of four levels of infection prevention and control (IPC). According to the statistics, one patient out of 10 catches some infectious disease during the hospital treatment.
As Ms Mina Brajović, chief of the WHO office for Montenegro said, this bleak and worrying statistics were the result of the assessment of the capacities for hospital infections prevention and control.
The study took 10 hospitals into consideration: hospital in Bar, Berane, Bijelo Polje, Brezovik, Codra hospital, hospital in Kotor, Nikšić, Pljevlja, Risan and Clinical Center in Podgorica. According to the research, specific links in the chain of IPC are at satisfactory level, but great number of segments require special attention and further improvement.
As the research shows, 100% of hospitals don’t have guidelines on epidemic preparedness and management, prevention of surgical wounds infection, prevention of catheter-associated blood stream infection, prevention of hospital-acquired pneumonia, prevention of catheter-associated urinary tract infection.
In 90% of cases hospitals don’t have guidelines on prevention of transmission of multi resistant pathogens. In 80% of the cases, there are no guidelines on disinfection and sterilization whereas in 70 of the cases there are no guidelines on antibiotics use management.
“Eight hospitals out of ten do not provide the employees with regular IPC training. Hygiene employees and other staff do not undergo IPC training, whereas in 7 hospitals out of 10 there’s no system of regular monitoring of the implementation of IPC guidelines”, said Ms Brajović.
As far as the supervision is concerned, the situation is quite similar. There’s no system supervision of health care acquired infections (HCAI) and in the great number of cases monitoring process and hands hygiene guidelines do not exist. The same goes for the guidelines on changing the would bandage (100%), cleaning hospital departments (100%)…
