Hygiene in der Praxis

According to the German Protection Against Infection Act, facilities for outpatient surgery are subject to supervise by the Health Authority to monitor hygienic conditions regarding infectious agents. This task is fulfilled by inspecting the practice premises, checking the hygiene plans and records, and advising the practice owner on questions relevant to hygiene. It is important that consideration always be given to ensuring that there are no differences in hygiene adherence between inpatient and outpatient interventions. The recommendations of the Commission on Hospital Hygiene and Infection Prevention of the Robert Koch Institute can be downloaded free of charge from their website. This contribution presents constructional/functional and operational/organizational aspects important for practices offering outpatient surgeries. The article closes with an example of how the Health Authority of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf conducts the surveillance of hygiene and infection control.