How COVID-19 Has Redefined the Importance of Medical Cleaning

Medical cleaning has always played a crucial part in minimising Health Associated Infections (HAI) in healthcare facilities and hospitals, but the COVID-19 pandemic has brought medical cleaning and disinfection right to the frontline of our defence against the highly contagious SARS-CoV-2 virus. Not only are these services key in minimising infection rates amongst patients and visitors – but they crucially help to protect the incredible healthcare workers who are potentially more exposed than most as they treat patients.

The new COVID-19 protocols are here to stay, so what has changed since the pandemic was first declared?

Special Surface Disinfection

While surface disinfection has always been a key element in healthcare and hospital cleaning, it’s now also closely focused on combatting COVID-19. Surface disinfection services must include two steps:
Firstly the surface must be cleaned to physically remove any dirt or organic matter. This is an essential step, as physical matter can reduce disinfectant’s effectiveness in killing germs. Secondly, the surface must be disinfected using a disinfectant with virucidal claims, as per the Australian Government’s COVID-19 Environmental cleaning and disinfection principles for health and residential care facilities. This step works to kill the virus and other germs such as bacteria, to reduce the risk of spreading infection.

One crucial focus for pre-emptive disinfection services is that of high-touch surfaces.

High-Touch Surfaces

The more often a surface is touched – and the more people who touch it – the more likely it is to transmit germs, including the SARS-CoV-2 virus and bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus that can lead to staph infections. It’s for this reason that healthcare facility cleaning must focus on regular cleaning and disinfection of high-touch surfaces such as reception counters, door handles, lift buttons, stair handrails, bed frames, phones, basins, taps and waiting room chairs.
Frequency of cleaning must be appropriate to the specific area, which is why a customised cleaning plan is essential for each healthcare facility.

Terminal cleaning of rooms where patients have been known to have COVID-19 need to be incredibly thorough and carried out with care. In these cases, items such as privacy curtains and window curtains must either be carefully disposed of or laundered. To clean these environments, cleaners will wear a full-length disposable gown, a surgical mask and eye protection, and impermeable gloves to be disposed of after use.

Training & Supervision

Correct training, management and supervision has always been imperative in a healthcare setting, but it’s now crucial that medical cleaners will have had specialist training for the new COVID-19 regulations. There simply is no room for error; both in the cleaning and disinfection process, and in the management of possibly contaminated equipment and items.

Awareness of Contamination

As SARS-CoV-2 (and other germs) has been found to live on surfaces from hours to days, every piece of equipment used to clean is a possible contamination source. This includes the use of disposable cleaning equipment such as cloths and mops wherever possible. Where items are reused, these need to be carefully disinfected. Cleaner training should be an essential and ongoing process with any medical cleaning company to ensure cleaners know exactly where contamination can occur and how to avoid it.

PPE is another potential source of contamination, and cleaners’ disposable masks, gloves and gowns should be regularly changed before moving to other areas of the medical or healthcare facility.

Documentation

Of course, medical facility cleaning includes extensive operating procedures, checklists, sign-off sheets and cleaning plans to ensure that cleaning and surface disinfection is carried out correctly and frequently. It’s essential that healthcare cleaning contractors are proactively working with the healthcare management team to ensure all cleaning and disinfection is safely meeting standards.

AMC Clean’s experience and expertise in medical cleaning and specialist surface disinfection can provide peace of mind that medical staff, patients and visitors are being protected from the spread of infection in healthcare settings. If you are seeking a medical cleaning company or commercial cleaning company in Adelaide, Perth, Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, the Gold Coast or elsewhere in Australia, we welcome you to contact our team to discuss your requirements.