Gibraltar Health Authority has launched an awareness campaign to highlight the importance of staff being ‘bare below the elbows’ in clinical areas as part of basic infection control practices. In such surroundings, healthcare workers should abstain from wearing watches, jewellery or long sleeved clothing below the elbows and have short unvarnished nails. This is because harmful bacteria and viruses can remain in jewellery or under fingernails even after careful hand washing. 

As per uniform policy a single plain wedding ring is permitted. 

It follows the recent declaration by the World Health Organisation of a global emergency related to the Mpox virus, and the importance of these precautionary procedures as part of our every day care for patients to prevent the spread of infection. 

GHA Director General Kevin McGee declared: “I’m strongly supporting this campaign to raise the profile of everyday infection control practices with our staff and the public. Our advice to health users is that if a member of GHA staff working in a clinical area, wants to examine you and they are not ‘bare below the elbows’ please ask them why and remind them of this practice. This is a message that has to be reinforced by our staff so that it resonates across our entire organisation.” 

For his part Dr Nick Cortes, Consultant Microbiologist stated: “Hand hygiene is an essential component of patient safety in healthcare. Many harmful micro-organisms including those that cause common infections, bacteria that are multiple resistant to antibiotics (e.g. MRSA) and viruses such as SARS-CoV-2, norovirus and Mpox can be transmitted on hands. In order to effectively wash and decontaminate your hands and forearms you need to be ‘bare below the elbows’. This campaign reinforces the crucial importance of hand hygiene as a measure to stop transmission of micro-organisms and thus prevent spread of infection and antimicrobial resistance in Gibraltar." 

Director of Public Health Helen Carter said: “Control and prevention of infection in a hospital setting is of crucial importance and in the light of recent developments as reported by WHO, we are urging staff to follow these recommendations popularly known as ‘bare below the elbow.’ Minimising any and all risk at the GHA is central to our modus operandi.”