[Hygiene ranking in residential homes for the aged in Frankfurt--conception and first results]

Public health departments are obliged by law to survey hygienic procedures and condition in residential homes for the aged. Based on the annual hygiene control visits, a standardised hygiene ranking was established with the aggregation of more than 60 detailed single observations in the following fields: building, organisation, training of the staff, actual hygiene situation, repeated deficits, food and kitchen hygiene, and drinking water. This hygiene ranking enables not only intra-institutional comparisons in different years but also the comparison between different homes. The data obtained in 2004 to 2006 demonstrated that this method was very well accepted by the institutions and was readily appreciated as a tool for external quality assessment.