Irish policy-makers' perceptions of barriers and facilitators to hand hygiene compliance

Abstract

Introduction Despite its’ role in infection prevention, hand hygiene (HH) compliance rates in healthcare settings remain sub-optimal. Little research has examined policy-makers’ perceptions of contributory barriers and facilitators to compliance, and whether these are addressed in national-level guidelines. Methods Interviews were conducted with national-and hospital-level policy-makers. The COM-B model was used as a coding framework. Google© was used to source suitable Irish health service guidelines, policies, and regulations relating to HH. Data were extracted from documents using a structured tool. Results Six themes emerged from the interviews. Four documents were determined to meet the inclusion criteria, with some of the themes identified from the interviews also present in the documents. Discussion Policy-maker perceptions help identify potential areas for targeting in future interventions. The varied extent to which the issues identified in the interviews were addressed in the guidelines, policies and standards suggest that revision of such documents is required.