Infection Control Annual Statement

Purpose

 This annual statement will be generated each year in February in accordance with the requirement of The Health and Social Care Act 2008 Code of Practice on the prevention and control of infections and related guidance. It summarises:

Any infection transmission incidents and any actions taken

·        Details of infection control audits undertaken and resulting actions taken

·        Details of any risk assessments undertaken for prevention and control of infection

·        Staff education and training

·        Any review and update of policies, procedures and guidance

·        Antimicrobial prescribing and stewardship

 Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Lead

 IPC Nursing lead: Jayne Taylor – Practice Nurse

IPC GP lead: Dr Gemma Newman

Antimicrobial prescribing Lead:  Dr Gemma Newman

Sepsis Lead: Dr Miriam Al-Kashi

ICB Lead: Natalie Warman

IPC Support and queries: syheartlandsccg.shipc@nhs.net

 

 

 

Infection transmission incidents (Significant Events)

 Significant events (may involve examples of good practice as well as challenging events) are

investigated in detail to determine what can be learnt and indicate changes that might lead to future improvements.

All significant events are reviewed in regular staff meetings and learning is cascaded to all relevant staff.

There were no significant events relating to Infection Control in the last 12 months.

Infection Prevention Audit and Actions

The Orchard Surgery practice plans to undertake the following audits in 2023

·        Annual Infection Prevention and Control

·        Hand Hygiene

Patient Triage for infection risks continues, notices displayed in reception relating to infections e.g. Covid-19; Diarrhoea/sickness.

·        IPC Staff information 2023: this document is updated and put up in all areas of the practice to reflect the step-down in Covid-19 IPC procedures.

·        Disposable Curtains: these will be updated in consulting rooms  

      Clinical Waste: Updated information posters on the appropriate coloured bags to use for allocation of clinical waste in all rooms and stocked with the relevant bags.

·        Hand Hygiene Posters displayed in all areas of the practice to remind staff, this remains the most important factor in reducing the risk of transmission of infectious agents.

  

 

 

 

 

Risk Assessments

Risk assessments are carried out so that best practice can be established. In the last year the following risk assessments were carried out/reviewed:

Privacy Curtains: In line with the National Standards of Healthcare Cleanliness 2021 and regulation 15 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008, curtains should be visibly clean with no blood or body substances, dust, dirt, stains or spillages. In light of this, disposable medical grade curtains are used in the consulting and waiting rooms. All curtains are regularly reviewed.

Legionella (Water) Risk Assessment: In line with cleanliness assurance (Safe Management of the Care Environment), the practice conducts a monthly water safety risk assessment to ensure the water supply does not pose a risk to patients, visitors or staff.

Clinical Waste: As per the NHS Clinical Waste Strategy 2023, the appropriate segregation of waste is vital to reducing Net Zero carbon emissions within the NHS by 2040. Colour coded posters outlining the segregation of waste and suitable waste bag to use were put in the relevant rooms.

Safe Management of Blood and Bodily Fluids: In line with PHE (2019) Guidance on management of potential exposure to blood-borne viruses in emergency workers, it is essential that all health care workers pay careful attention to the appropriate policy, procedure when handling sharp instruments, syringes, blood and other body fluids (Exposure Prone Procedures EPPs).  Staff use the appropriate PPE relevant to the procedure; follow the decontamination guidelines re cleaning/spillages using the relevant biohazards kits where necessary. All staff use the standard infection control precautions (SICPs).

Cleaning specifications, frequencies and cleanliness: the practice provides and maintains cleaning schedules that facilitate the prevention and control of infections. These are checked weekly.

 Training

 All staff receive annual training in infection prevention and control

·         All clinical and non-clinical staff have completed blue stream e-learning training

 Policies

All Infection Prevention and Control related policies are in date for this year.

These policies are available to all staff.

They are reviewed and amended on an ongoing basis in line with current advice, guidance and legislation changes.

All IPC policies are discussed with staff on an annual basis.

  Responsibility

 It is the responsibility of each individual to be familiar with this statement and their roles and responsibilities under this.

Antimicrobial Prescribing and Stewardship

Antimicrobials are a group of agents that either kill or inhibit the growth and division of micro-organisms. They include antibiotics, antiseptic, disinfectants, antiviral, antifungal, antibacterial and anti-parasitic medicines. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) describes when micro-organisms evolve over time and no longer respond to any antimicrobial therapy.

The solution to reducing further AMR is Antimicrobial Stewardship (AMS), this is a healthcare wide system approach to promote and monitor judicious use of antimicrobials to preserve their future effectiveness.

·        The practice has systems in place to manage and monitor the use of antimicrobials e.g.  monitoring patients who may have severe infections such as sepsis to ensure they are treated promptly with suitable antimicrobials.

·        The practice follows the NICE Summary of Antimicrobial prescribing guidance – managing common infections (updated February 2023).

·        The practice works in line with the Surrey Heartlands ICB Antimicrobial Optimisation Group which produces quarterly Microbial Matters Newsletters. This is distributed to all clinical staff.

·        Practice prescribers work closely with in-house pharmacists and lead PCN pharmacists to ensure standardisation of antimicrobial prescribing.

·        The practice promotes national antimicrobial awareness on its website as and when this arises.

·        The practice follows the Surrey Heartlands ICB Wound Management Formulary which promotes evidence based guidance on wound management and topical antimicrobials.

·        Best practice information is disseminated to all staff via meetings.