Purpose
This annual statement will be generated each year in JULY 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 Imperial Medical Practice is Harriet Swarbrick – Lead Practice Nurse
The IPC lead is supported by Kay Douglas – Practice Nurse and Emily Lampitt – Practice Manager.
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 at 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 0 significant events raised that related to infection control. There have also been 0 complaints made regarding cleanliness or infection control.
Infection prevention audit and actions
Regular audits are carried out and a rolling refurbishment programme is in operation to ensure compliance with all standards.
List all internal audits that have been conducted within the previous year. Discuss the implementation of any audit requirements or shortcomings and how staff are involved to promote high standards of IPC:
- IPC Audit : added 2 x wall mounted soap dispensers so that all rooms and toilets had one.
- Hand washing Audit: Ensure everyone up to date with annual blue stream training (mandatory training.)
Detail any projected audit reviews and frequency: above Audits annually.
Risk assessments
Risk assessments are carried out so that any risk is minimised to be as low as reasonably practicable. Additionally, a risk assessment that can identify best practice can be established and then followed.
In the last year, the following risk assessments were carried out/reviewed:
- General IPC risks
- Staffing, new joiners and ongoing training
- COSHH
- Cleaning standards
- Privacy curtain cleaning or changes
- Staff vaccinations
- Infrastructure changes
- Sharps
- Water safety – legionnaires risk assessment carried out regularly due to age of building
Training
In addition to staff being involved in risk assessments and significant events, at Imperial Medical Practice all staff and contractors receive IPC induction training on commencing their post. Thereafter, all staff receive refresher training annually.
Various elements of IPC training in the previous year have been delivered at the following times: Hand Washing – Blue stream (mandatory training), Infection control – Blue Stream (mandatory training)
Policies and procedures
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 Imperial Medical Practice to be familiar with this statement and their roles and responsibilities under it.
Review
The IPC lead and Practice Manager (PM) Emily Lampitt are responsible for reviewing and producing the annual statement.
This annual statement will be updated on or before August 2025.