Introduction
Hand hygiene (HH) is well-recognised as part of best practice in preventing cross infection. In light of the P.aeruginosa outbreak in neonatal units in the UK, it is recommended that healthcare workers (HCWs) should routinely use alcohol hand rub after hand washing in all augmented care areas. Since this practice may lead to dermatitis, we have conducted this study to assess whether use of alcohol hand rub was necessary after hand washing (HW) as we were unable to find any scientific papers to support this recommendation.