Infection Control Statement

ANNUAL IPC STATEMENT – Woodbridge Hill Surgery

 Purpose 

 This annual statement will be generated each year in April in accordance with the requirements of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 Code of Practice on the prevention and control of infections and related guidance. The report will be published on the practice website and will include the following summary:

·         Any infection transmission incidents and any action taken (these will have been reported in accordance with our significant event procedure)

·         Details of any infection control audits undertaken and actions undertaken

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

·         Details of staff training

·         Any review and update of policies, procedures and guidelines

 

Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Lead

 The lead for infection prevention and control at Woodbridge Hill Surgery is Catherine O’Callaghan, Practice Nurse

 The IPC Lead is supported by Prof. Simon de Lusignan and non – clinical support by Michelle Harcus.

 

a.   Infection transmission incidents (significant events

Significant events involve examples of good practice as well as challenging events.

Positive events are discussed at meetings to allow all staff to be appraised of areas of best practice.

Negative events are managed by the staff member who either identified or was advised of any potential shortcoming. This person will complete a Significant Event Analysis (SEA) form that commences an investigation process to establish what can be learnt and to indicate changes that might lead to future improvements.

All significant events are reviewed and discussed in several meetings each month. Any learning points are cascaded to all relevant staff where an action plan, including audits or policy review, may follow.

In the past year there have been 1 significant events raised that related to infection control. There have also been 0 complaints made regarding cleanliness or infection control.

 

b.   Infection prevention audit and action

Infection Prevention Society Audit Tool was completed in July 2024 and resulted in the following actions;

·         New hand towel boxes to replace a couple of broken ones.

·         2 new couches because of damage and wear and tear of fabric

·         Needle boxes – change of storage area and new lock attached

·         Meeting with Cleaners Contractors and reviewed current methods of auditing cleanliness of rooms via QR codes

·         QR codes added to all clinical rooms for Daily Room checks and toilets (checked twice daily)

·         Reminder to all staff to complete IPC training.

·         Changes to storage of couch rolls

·         Standardisation of rooms for equipment and signage.

c. Risk Assessments

Risk assessments are carried out so that any risk is minimised to be as low as reasonably practicable. Additionally, a risk assessment which can identify best practice can be established and then followed.

 In the last year the following risk assessments were carried out/reviewed:

·         Asbestos

·         Cleaning risk assessment and review

·         COSHH assessment (Control of Substances Hazardous to Health) – reviewing the chemicals used within the practice.

·         Water temperature checks.

·         Legionella

·         Fire Fighting Equipment and premises Fire Risk Assessment

 

d. Training

In addition to staff being involved in risk assessments and significant events, at Woodbridge Hill Surgery all staff and contractors receive IPC induction training on commencing their post. Thereafter, all staff receive refresher training annually the level of training is dependent on the staff members role and responsibilities.

Various elements of IPC training in the previous year have been delivered via online training supported by our training software provider Bluestream and the ICB Training Hub

 e. Policies and procedures

The infection prevention and control related policies and procedures which have been written, updated or reviewed in the last year include, but are not limited, to:

Infection Prevention Control Handbook

 

Policies relating to infection prevention and control are available to all staff and are reviewed and updated annually. Additionally, all policies are amended on an ongoing basis as per current advice, guidance and legislation changes.

 

Responsibility

It is the responsibility of all staff members at Woodbridge Hill Surgery to be familiar with this statement and their roles and responsibilities under it.

 Review

The IPC Lead and the Registered Manager are responsible for reviewing and producing the annual statement.

This annual statement will be updated on or before 12th April 2025.

 Signed by

 Michelle Harcus

Practice Manager

Woodbridge Hill Surgery