Talking boxes aid hospital staff

A NHS trust is set to combat hospital infections by installing loudspeakers to play messages reminding staff to wash their hands.

Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust hopes the movement-activated machines will help in its fight against MRSA.

It also hopes that the boxes will help staff communicate with both patients and visitors.

When staff members wash their hands, a pre-recorded message will play, which will remind them what to do.

Anne Dyas, the trust's director for infection prevention and control, told the Worcester News that the devices would be an excellent way of gaining people's attention.

She added that as the boxes can record any message, they can also let staff communicate other information, such as ward opening times.

"The boxes, which fix on the walls, will have a variety of messages which change with time," she told the newspaper.

"Although the volume will have to be turned down at night."

A trust spokesman said the speakers would be paid for by funds allocated by the Government.

The funding has been set up to tackle hospital-acquired infections across the country.

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