Increase adherence to waste management policy at healthcare facility in Egypt

Abstract

Abstract Background Proper management of medical wastes can help prevent serious consequences of catastrophic events or accidents in the hospital and its near or far environment. Method A quality performance improvement project has been carried out to increase adherence to waste management policy of infection control, to ensure that departments are following basic health rules of their communities. In this project, the team utilized the basic Six Sigma breakthrough problem-solving methodology: Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control (DMAIC) to examine the original (root) causes of the problem, in a healthcare facility in Egypt from January to August 2016. The team re-modulated a place for interim storage of hospital-regulated hazardous medical waste and compensate for workers’ fatigue by participation of professional housekeeping company. Results Weekly recording of errors in performance in waste management process demonstrates process stability through the first 12 weeks, and shifting towards the desired direction of reduced errors in waste management performance was obtained from the 13th week ongoing. Conclusion Infection preventionists using their routine monitoring data could help the organization to fulfill accreditation requirements for quality assurance through the performance improvement project and to keep all hospital staff, visitors, and the surrounding environment safe and secure.

Keywords

• Regulated hazardous waste
• Interim storage
• Quality improvement
• Infection preventionists
• Six sigma