Specialists in reducing infection
The team works closely supporting multidisciplinary clinical teams/staff in ensuring the risks of healthcare associated infections (HCAIs) are minimised across acute and community services.
The IPC team provide specialist advice, expertise, education and training on matters relating to the identification, prevention and management of infection within the trust to provide assurance for patient and staff safety.
The team is answerable to the trust board and the chief executive, who have ultimate responsibility for ensuring the risk of infection to patients, staff and visitors is minimized to its lowest potential.
The CEO has ultimate responsibility for ensuring that effective systems and processes are in place to minimise the risk of infection to patients, staff and visitors.
The Executive Directors have specific responsibilities are delegated to members as follows:
- The Director of Nursing, Midwifery and Quality (DN) and the Medical Director (MD) Joint Executive Directors of Infection Prevention & Control (DIPC).
The DN in conjunction with the MD as joint DIPC has delegated responsibility and oversight for ensuring effective systems and processes are in place to minimise the risk of infection across the Trust.
- The Deputy Chief Executive/ Director of QE Facilities
Leads on Decontamination for the Trust, Provide an annual report against the Disinfection and Sterilisation (DAS) Programme to the Trust board.
- The Director of Human Resources
Will ensure that all staff job descriptions contain explicit reference to infection prevention and control and where appropriate Occupational Health polcies and procedures support minimisation of HCAI.
- The Finance Director and other Executive Director roles
Will ensure that resources are available centrally to finance the management and control of outbreaks of infection. They will share in the overall corporate responsibility to support the implementation and further development of the Trust’s HCAI Strategy and programme.
Business Unit Associate Directors, Heads of Service and Service Line Managers
These are responsible for:
- Ensuring all staff are aware of relevant IPC policies; are compliant with the Trust’s Core Skills Training requirements, acting on non-compliance
- Ensuring that there are effective IPC processes in place in accordance with the Trust’s IPC strategy and annual programme and that the appropriate level of local management action is initiated and completed as required.
- Ensure IPC is discussed at appropriate forums/meetings as on-going development, review and monitoring of Business Unit planning.
- Ensuring that Root Cause Analysis (RCA), and/or Post Infection Reviews (PIRs) are completed by senior medical and nursing staff and attend Serious Incident Meetings as required.
- Responsible for disseminating lessons learned to all levels of staff in their Business Unit. ∙ Ensuring that IPC is a mandatory item on all management team briefings/meetings.
- Reporting via performance and clinical practice and standards reviews on the Directorate IPC management performance in addition to new and emerging risks, major changes of priority on existing risks and key actions.
- Ensuring where necessary, that business unit HCAI risks are reported on the risk register with developed action plans to monitor, review and resolve the identified risk as necessary.
Matrons/Ward Clinical Managers
In addition to contributing to the responsibilities as outlined above, matrons or ward clinical managers have responsibility for:
- Providing visible strong leadership for IPC and driving a culture of cleanliness in clinical areas and participating in regular monitoring of standards.
- Ensuring staff are compliant with IPC Core Skills training and acting on non-compliance
- Ensuring clinical staff have access to, and read, infection prevention and control policies.
- Promoting the standard principles of infection prevention and control, awareness and responsibilities amongst employees, service users, contractors and partners to ensure that patients and visitors are managed safely.
- Ensuring ward quality measure audits are performed and any non-compliance are acted upon and documented in an action plan.
- Ensuring infection prevention and control link practitioners are identified and attend link practitioner meetings ensuring that there is promotion and engagement in the clinical environment.
- Leading on rapid reviews, RCA, PIR and Serious Incident Review Meetings as required, to promote learning and practice improvement
Medical Staff
Medical staff are expected to implement the IPC policies and guidelines of the Trust and in the case of consultants, to ensure that these are followed by all staff who care for their patients.
Consultant staff have an additional responsibility in ensuring that their junior staff have received adequate training in IPC.
IPC issues must be discussed as part of appraisal by all staff with clinical responsibilities.
Clinical Safecare Leads
These support the Business Unit/Department Management Team in the delivery of effective HCAI prevention and control practice, education, audit and learning.