Infection Prevention & Control (IPC) Annual Statement 2023-24
Annual statements will be generated in accordance with the requirements of the Health and Social Care Act 2008’s code of practice on the prevention and control of the spread of infections. To achieve this we will
- Regularly review and update policies, procedures, and guidelines of the practice
- Provide both clinical and nonclinical staff with appropriate training in different aspects of infection prevention control
- Conduct risk assessments for the prevention of the spread of infection.
- Any infection transmission incidents will be reported according to the “Significant Events” procedure and any action taken will be documented/
Infection Prevention Control Team
In our practice we have a team to manage the IPC. As the lead of this team, our Practice Nurse Roy has recently undergone an IPC Lead training course. Following this training, the plans for the future infection control policies include
- Hand hygiene audit – to be done every 3 months
- Sharps audit – To be done every 12 months
- Vaccine storage Audit- to be done every 12 months
- Domestic Cleaning audit – to be done every 6 months
- PPE Audit- to be done every 6 months
- Specimen box cleaning -to be done every month
- Equipment Cleaning Audit- to be done every 3 months
- Clinical Room Cleaning Audit – to be done every 3 months
- All staffs are offered flu jab yearly
Risk Assessments
Risk assessments should be carried out so that best practice can be established and followed. We are regularly doing Legionella (water) risk assessments. For staff and patient safety, this is conducted and reviewed for water stability and to ensure that the water has no risk of infection.
Infection transmission incidents
In the past year, there was one incident which related to infection control. This involved the sharps bin in the nurses’ room falling off the holder, through which the bin was mounted on the wall. Fortunately no needles fell out of the bin as it was locked at the time. The company that installed the sharps bins were unable to provide us with replacement holders, therefore it was decided by the IPC team that it would be best not to mount the bin, to avoid a recurrence.
In the past year there have been no complaints made regarding cleanliness or infection control.
Staff health
As a practice, we ensure that each member of our team is up to date with their immunisations such as Hepatitis B. We also offer team member the flu jab during the flu season.
We are taking part in the National Immunisation Campaign. In doing this we are providing Polio boosters for children under 10 and offering home visits for the flu jab to our registered population.
Other Infection prevention
Curtains in clinical rooms- In following the NHS Cleaning specifications, curtains should be cleaned or replaced (disposable curtains) every 6 months. We ensure that this is done on a timely basis. Washable curtains are washed every 6 months and our disposable curtains are replaced every 6 months unless visibly soiled which in this case they are immediately replaced. Clinicians are reminded to always remove gloves and clean hands before touching the curtains.
The window blinds- These are regularly cleaned to prevent the build-up of dust and allergens.
Toys have been removed from the waiting room and consultation rooms due to the risk of transmitting Covid 19.
Cleaning Specifications
We have policies and guidelines in place which our domestic staff adheres to. An assessment of cleanliness is conducted by the infection prevention control team once weekly. This is done in all areas of the surgery and includes assessing the cleanliness of equipment and clearing of clutter.
Training
All members of the team receive online infection prevention control training as part of their mandatory training. The Lead nurse will conduct hand hygiene training to all members of the team and will audit every 3 months.
Policies
Infection Prevention Control policies are up to date and available to all members of staff via the shared drive. These policies are reviewed and updated annually. We have introduced a cleaning schedule for each clinical room. We have also introduced a second thermometer in each of the vaccination refrigerators. Hand washing training will be provided to new staff during the induction period. Annual Infection Control reports will be done. We have introduced more audits including PPE Audits, sharps audit, and hand washing audits. A thermometer will be used in the cool bag for home visits to maintain the cold chain. We have introduced a uniform policy to all members of staff to prevent the spread of infection and risk of infection. Wipes in the clinical rooms have been swapped from the green wipes to the yellow wipes.
