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Hand Washing Policy

1. Policy Statement

Our domiciliary care service is committed to upholding the highest standards of hygiene to prevent infections and protect the health and well-being of both our service users and staff. Hand washing is one of the most effective ways to reduce the spread of infections, and our policy ensures that all staff follow strict hygiene protocols in compliance with Care Quality Commission (CQC) regulations. This policy aligns with Regulation 12: Safe Care and Treatment​, ensuring that appropriate infection prevention and control measures are in place.

This policy is implemented in line with the DHSC Health and Social Care Act 2008 Code of Practice on the prevention and control of infections and related guidance, and reflects CQC expectations that providers have an effective approach to assessing, managing and reducing infection risk in line with current relevant national guidance, including prompt escalation and information sharing where needed.

2. Purpose

The purpose of this handwashing policy is to:

• Minimise infection risk: Reduce the spread of bacteria, viruses, and other infectious agents among service users, staff, and visitors.
• Ensure regulatory compliance: Meet legal and regulatory obligations including the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 (in particular Regulation 12: Safe care and treatment) and the DHSC Health and Social Care Act 2008 Code of Practice on the prevention and control of infections and related guidance, as well as current national infection prevention and control guidance expected by CQC.
• Provide clear guidance: Offer step-by-step instructions on proper hand hygiene practices for all care staff.
• Promote best practices: Reinforce the importance of good hand hygiene in all aspects of domiciliary care, from personal care assistance to food handling.

3. Responsibilities

Registered Manager:

• Ensures that this policy is implemented across all service users’ homes.
• Provides infection control training to all staff members.
• Conducts spot checks and audits to monitor compliance.
• Ensures that adequate hand hygiene resources (soap, sanitiser, gloves) are available for all staff.
• Addresses and resolves any hand hygiene non-compliance issues.

Care Staff:

• Must follow the hand hygiene procedures at all times.
• Attend all training sessions on infection control and hand hygiene.
• Report any issues with access to hand washing facilities in service users’ homes.
• Encourage and support service users to maintain their own hand hygiene.

Service Users and Visitors:

• Encouraged to follow hand hygiene recommendations.
• Support the care staff in maintaining a clean and hygienic environment.

4. When to Wash Hands

Hand washing is essential at key points to minimise the risk of cross-contamination and infection transmission. Staff must wash their hands:

• Before and after providing personal care to service users.
• Before and after handling food, medications, or medical equipment.
• After contact with bodily fluids, such as urine, faeces, saliva, or blood.
• After removing gloves or any other protective equipment.
• After coughing, sneezing, or touching the face.
• Before and after entering a service user’s home.
• After using the toilet.
• After handling waste or cleaning.
• After touching pets or contaminated surfaces.

Proper adherence to hand hygiene during these moments is essential to prevent cross-infection between staff, service users, and their families.

5. How to Wash Hands Effectively

Using Soap and Water:

1. Wet hands with clean, running water.
2. Apply liquid soap and lather well.
3. Scrub all areas, including the back of hands, between fingers, under nails, and thumbs, for at least 20 seconds.
4. Rinse thoroughly with running water.
5. Dry hands completely using a clean disposable paper towel.
6. Use the paper towel to turn off the tap (to avoid recontamination).

Using Alcohol-Based Hand Sanitiser (if soap and water are unavailable):

• Use an alcohol-based hand rub (ABHR) that is fit for purpose for healthcare use (for example, compliant with BS EN 1500 or equivalent), and use it exactly as instructed to cover all hand surfaces until dry. ABHR must be allowed to dry fully before touching the service user or equipment.
• Apply a palmful of sanitiser and rub all hand surfaces until dry (around 20 seconds).
• Note: Hand sanitiser is not effective on visibly dirty hands—use soap and water instead.
• Soap and water must be used (not alcohol hand rub alone) after using the toilet and when caring for anyone with vomiting or diarrhoea, or where there is a suspected/confirmed outbreak organism (for example norovirus) because alcohol hand rub may not be sufficiently effective in these situations.

6. Training & Compliance

• All staff must complete infection prevention and control training, which includes practical demonstrations on effective hand hygiene.
• Refresher training will be conducted annually or more frequently if necessary.
• Compliance will be monitored through routine audits and spot checks by senior staff.
• Staff who fail to adhere to hand hygiene protocols will undergo retraining, and repeated non-compliance may result in disciplinary action.

7. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) & Hand Hygiene

• Gloves: Do not replace handwashing. Staff must wash their hands before and after wearing gloves.
• Aprons & Masks: Care must be taken not to touch the face while wearing PPE. Hand hygiene must be performed before and after using PPE.
• Disposal: PPE must be removed safely and disposed of immediately after use. In domiciliary care, PPE must be placed into the appropriatewastestream based on risk assessment and local arrangements (for example, domestic waste for non-infectious PPE, or the agreed infectious/offensive waste route where required). Staff must perform hand hygiene immediately after removing PPE.

8. Managing Hand Hygiene Efficiently in a Domiciliary Setting

Ensuring Access to Hand Washing Facilities:

• Staff should carry a portable hand hygiene kit, including hand sanitiser, disposable towels, and soap.
• Service users should be provided with access to soap, water, and clean towels.
• If water is unavailable, staff should use alcohol-based hand sanitiser and report any issues to management.

Waste Disposal:

• Used paper towels and gloves should be disposed of safely in a lined bin.
• PPE must be discarded following infection control protocols.

Preventing Cross-Contamination:

• Minimise items carried into service users’ homes.
• Clean mobile phones, pens, and other equipment regularly.
• Avoid wearing jewellery (except a plain wedding band) and keep nails short and clean.

9. Monitoring & Auditing

• Routine spot checks will be carried out by senior carers or team leaders.
• Service user feedback on staff hand hygiene will be encouraged.
• Performance tracking will include records of staff training, audits, and any reported issues.
• Non-compliance will trigger additional training and, if necessary, disciplinary action.

Audit findings must be recorded, reviewed by the Registered Manager (or delegated IPC lead), and converted into clear actions with owners and deadlines. Completion and effectiveness of actions must be evidenced (for example, re-audit results, supervision notes, training records). Trends and recurring issues must be escalated through governance processes.

10. Compliance with CQC Regulations

This policy supports compliance with CQC requirements and Fundamental Standards, particularly:

• Regulation 12 (Safe care and treatment) – ensuring risks of infection are assessed and managed and that IPC practices are implemented to prevent avoidable harm.
• Regulation 15 (Premises and equipment) – ensuring any equipment we provide/use in people’s homes is clean, suitable and used in a way that prevents infection risk.
• Regulation 17 (Good governance) – ensuring IPC arrangements (including hand hygiene) are monitored, audited, acted upon and improved.

In addition, where an incident meets CQC criteria for statutory notification, notifications are made in line with the Care Quality Commission (Registration) Regulations 2009 and CQC statutory notifications guidance.

11. Reporting Issues

• Staff should immediately report any lack of hygiene facilities in a service user’s home to the registered manager.
• Any suspected or confirmed outbreak, or other incident that meets statutory notification thresholds, must be escalated to the Registered Manager immediately. Where required, the Registered Manager (or delegated person) will submit a CQC statutory notification in line with the Care Quality Commission (Registration) Regulations 2009 and CQC guidance, and will also liaise with other relevant agencies (for example the local Health Protection Team) where appropriate.
• If a staff member or service user shows symptoms of an infectious disease, appropriate isolation measures must be followed.

12. Review & Policy Updates

This policy will be reviewed annually or sooner if infection control guidelines change. Any updates will be communicated to all staff via training sessions and written policy updates.

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Responsible Person: {{org_field_registered_manager_first_name}} {{org_field_registered_manager_last_name}}
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