Infection Prevention

The role of the IPC Team is to ensure that the risk of infection to patients, visitors and staff is minimised through a range of prevention and control processes. The team closely monitors infection rates and undertakes audits and education to maintain consistently high standards across all sites.

Main roles of the IPC team include:

• Education – to ensure patients are educated about their infections, and staff are kept up to date on IPC practices to enable them to manage infection risks. The Team also train and support a network of IPC Link Practitioners to champion best practice across the organisation.
• Audit – to monitor clinical practice and environmental standards and cleanliness
• Surveillance – to monitor trends of healthcare-associated infections so that actions can be taken to reduce cases
• Advice – to staff, patients and visitors
• Outbreak Management – to manage, advise and support in the event of an outbreak
• Information – to ensure that the Trust’s IPC policies and guidance are in line with national guidance and best practice, and that information on common infections is available for patients, relatives and carers.

You can find more information on our policies and information for patients and visitors on this website. For more information about infection prevention and control see the following website UK Health Security Agency (blog.gov.uk)

Patients and visitors also have a vital role to play in helping to support healthcare staff to prevent infection.

Hand Hygiene

Keeping hands clean while visiting or staying in hospital is the single most important thing you can do to protect yourself and others from infection. We advise patients and visitors to wash or sanitise their hands before eating, before and after visiting, and to wash hands after using the toilet. If you are staying in hospital, and need help with this, please ask a member of staff to assist you.

Whilst in Hospital

• It’s ok to ask – healthcare staff can protect you by cleaning their hands. Do not be afraid to ask staff if they have cleaned their hands, and please do challenge staff if you do not see them cleaning their hands.
• Personal hygiene is important when you are in hospital. This is helped by bringing in your own toiletries, and not sharing them with other patients.
• Where possible, keep your bed space uncluttered, to enable a high standard of cleaning to be undertaken
• Dispose of any used tissues immediately into the waste bag provided
• If you or a visitor have concerns about the cleanliness of the healthcare environment, please do report this to the Nurse/Midwife in charge as soon as possible so that prompt action can be taken

Visitors

• Please do not visit if you have been unwell in the previous 48 hours, particularly if you have had diarrhoea, vomiting, or symptoms of a respiratory virus infection
• To protect any wounds or invasive devices our patients may have, we ask visitors to sit on the chairs provided, rather than on the beds
• Please plan your visit responsibly and always adhere to ward visiting times
• If you are visiting a patient being cared for in an isolation room/ward, please speak to the Nurse/Midwife in charge before visiting. You do not need to wear gloves and aprons unless you are helping with their personal care
• Please do not touch your friend or relative's wound or any other device such as drips and catheters
• To minimise clutter and allow effective cleaning, please do not bring unnecessary items for your friend or relative
• For the safety of yourself and others, follow any additional guidance you are given to prevent transmission of infection in the healthcare setting you visit

If you have any concerns about infection prevention and control issues please ask to speak to a member of the team, or they can be contacted on 02392 286261.