It’s everybody’s business, are
you doing your bit?’
Infection prevention and control lies
at the heart of the Trust Strategy, to be safe whilst providing clinically
effective and focussed patient management. It remains a top priority within KGH and forms the core principles of Key
Performance Indicators (KPI) for the
Trust. Evolving clinical practice brings new challenges to infection prevention
and control and thus needs constant review of practice by clinical and the
Infection Prevention and Control team. (IPaCT)
The Trust puts infection prevention
and control and basic hygiene at the heart of good management and clinical
practice. It is committed to ensuring that appropriate resources are allocated
for effective protection of patients, their relatives, staff and visiting
members of the public. In this regard, emphasis is given to the prevention of
healthcare associated infection, the reduction of antibiotic resistance and the
sustained improvement of cleanliness in the hospital.
The Trust has
robust protocols in place for tackling MRSA which are based on national
guidelines for MRSA prevention and control. Following this guidance, the
majority of elective (planned) adult admissions and certain categories of
day-case attendees will be screened for MRSA. We provide antiseptic body wash
for all emergency admissions and screen all patients identified as at high risk
of developing MRSA. This approach has led to the Trust recording just 1 case of
hospital acquired MRSA bacteraemia (Blood stream infection) throughout
20011/12.
Our policy for MRSA screening provides more detail; you can access this by
downloading the policy that can be found at the bottom of this page
MRSA is not the only infection that is monitored, the IPaCT have an IT system
that provides updates 4 times a day to inform the team of incidents of
infection which require specialist advice and liaise daily with the pathology
laboratory and the consultant microbiologist to ensure the appropriate
management of patients with infections. The Trust also completes mandatory
reporting to the Department of Health of all incidents of clostridium difficle infection and Meticilllin Sensitive Staphylococcus aureus ( MSSA) and Escherichia coli (E-coli) blood stream infections.
The Trust Board
provide strategic leadership for effective delivery and the management of
patient safety in relation to infection prevention and control.
A report entitled the Health of Trust or HOTT report is submitted to each
Trust Board meeting to update on the progress of infection control.
The Trust Leads for Infection Control are:
-
Mrs Lorene Read, Chief
Executive Officer, and Chair of the Infection Control Committee
-
Dr. Manjula Natarajan,
Director of Infection Prevention and Control (DIPC). Advises clinical
staff on the management and treatment of infections
-
Clare Culpin, Director of
Nursing and Quality - Trust Executive Lead for Infection Prevention and Control
and Member of the Trust Board.
-
Pam Howe, Lead Nurse
Infection Prevention and Control – Leads the nursing infection prevention and
control team, supporting ward staff on a daily basis
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