The study was carried out to assess hand-washing behaviors and pattern among medical and paramedical professionals working at private clinics and provide help to identify and overcome barriers towards proper hand hygiene practices. A questionnaire based study was conducted at 12 different private setups situated in the Golra area suburb of Islamabad, Data on hand-washing practices and other factors were collected from ninety samples during the months of September-October 2011..Site inspections of hand washing facilities was also conducted. The data was analyzed on SPSS 14 and Excel programs. The study concludes that the majority of the health care providers had the knowledge about the benefits of hand washing, but proper practices were not followed. The reasons for not adopting hand washing practice were lack of time, heavy rush of patients and non conducive atmosphere