Central Coast Local Health District

Finalist: Health Research Award

The CLEEN study from Central Coast Local Health District is a world-first. This project investigated how improving the cleaning and disinfection of shared medical equipment affects healthcare-associated infections (HAIs).

The study was conducted at Gosford Hospital over 36 weeks, using a method where each of the 10 wards acted as its own control.

During the control phase, cleaning practices followed standard hospital procedures. In the intervention phase, a new cleaning approach was introduced. This included:

• an extra three hours of cleaning each weekday
• staff education on proper cleaning techniques
• regular audits using a special invisible gel to check cleaning effectiveness.

The results were significant: HAIs were reduced by 34.5%, and cleaning improved five-fold.

This project demonstrates the crucial role of cleaning shared medical equipment and has implications for hospital cleaning practices worldwide.​​