Infection Prevention and Control at the Northern Devon Healthcare Trust
The prevention of infection is a high priority at the Trust. This is because it is vital to the safety and quality of care that patients receive when they come to hospital.
There is a dedicated Infection Prevention & Control Team who provide expert guidance within the organisation, but it is the responsibility of all staff to ensure that infection prevention practices are followed very carefully. Patients and visitors can also play a part, so please follow the links to the Visiting patients in Hospital and Coming into hospital leaflets.
There is a national campaign called ‘cleanyourhands’ and the Trust fully supports its aims. Remember: ‘It’s OK to ask’ any staff attending you whether they have washed their hands, and it doesn’t matter from what profession or at what level of seniority they are. Also if you want to know something about an infection you have or are worried about an infection control issue then don’t hesitate to speak to staff.
Facts and Figures
The Department of Health requires all NHS Hospital Trusts to report on the number of cases of two important infections, MRSA bloodstream infections and Clostridium difficile diarrhoea, that have been associated with hospital care. This ensures that the Department of Health can monitor reductions against limits that they set. To date in 2008 the Trust is within these set limits. The actual figures are published by the Health Protection Agency and can be accessed by clicking on the following link:
http://www.hpa.org.uk/webw/HPAweb&Page&HPAwebAutoListName/Page/1191942126522?p=1191942126522
The notice boards at the entrance to each ward also contain information about you how well we are doing in lowering infections.
At ward and department level the Trust has identified infection control link-practitioners who do spot-checks of hand hygiene and cleanliness along with their everyday work. Their work also helps the Trust audit clinical practices against best practice guidance.
The information on infection control is reported at the monthly Infection Prevention & Control Committee, chaired by the Trust’s Chief Executive, which is where managers and clinicians are asked to make improvements to infection control practice. Detailed facts and figures from this meeting are shared with the Trust Board so that they too understand what is happening and can take action at the highest level to rectify any unresolved problems that have been identified.
General principles for infection prevention and control
* Clean hands – using alcohol hand gel or soap and water
* Clean environment – keep the hospital clean, tidy and in good repair
* Clean equipment – using clean and where appropriate disinfected and sterile equipment
* Isolation – of patients with known or suspected infections wherever possible.
There are several areas of action that will help reduce the spread of infections. These we call the High Five:-
Standard Precautions
Health Care Associated Infection (HCAI) and Infectious Diseases
Invasive Devices and Procedures
Outbreaks
Food Hygiene
