DECONTAMINATION & STERILE SERVICES
years, but we can help influence and prog- ress and support practitioners, and to de- velop so that we move towards that aim.
“There is a groundswell of support for the strategy and we are now in the process of energising it and working on the detailed plan to translate it into reality.”
Stronger together
The recent IPS annual conference, held from September 19-21, saw over 700 del- egates and 100 exhibitors sign up to the IPS strategy. The theme of the event was ‘Stronger Together’, which emphasised col- laboration between healthcare and social care providers, commissioners and patient groups as well as between different societ- ies and countries.
Cooper said: “We were very impressed; it was an absolutely fantastic conference. Working together can really bring strength to the messages that we are conveying. Things like International Infection Preven- tion week, which took place in October, Hand Hygiene day of action, which takes place in May, led by the World Health Or- ganisation: all of those things really reso- nate with that message.
“Our website provides a forum for infor- mation sharing, support, development and learning. Our branch structure provides educational opportunities to gain learning, share problems, and develop professionally.
“At a national level we’re hugely proud to have launched our outcome competen- cies for infection prevention practitioners, which are endorsed by the Departments of Health across England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.
“This is a key piece of work to help prac- titioners when they’re looking to structure a service and recruit individuals that will meet their corporate needs to deliver cost effective and safe care.”
Free resource
The IPS also launched new quality im- provement tools at its conference that can be used by practitioners across the whole spectrum of health and social care to con- tinually monitor and improve practice.
Cooper said: “There are a range of tools freely available on our website to monitor various aspects of care and care delivery. One of the tools that’s been used historical- ly has been the Infection Control Nurses’ Association audit tools, which have been in use for probably about 10 to 15 years. We
did a big piece of work on these, recognis- ing that the world has moved on: we want the focus to be around quality improve- ment by using information for action to make improvements in care. Anybody can access these tools; you don’t need to be a member.
“They’re designed to be used in two ways – rapid improvement tools that are rela- tively short and a snapshot facility for use in clinical practice or a care environment.
“Then there are the process improvement tools, which are much bigger and really go in to depth of all the elements of the stan- dards we need to monitor for our patients.”
These tools help to sustain improvements once they’ve been made in practice. Cooper explained: “They’re designed to identify areas for improvement and then at a local level you can take action. Part of their use is ongoing monitoring to make sure you’ve got where you want to go, and to periodical- ly check you’re still where you want to be.”
“The ability and capability of commissioners intelligently continuing to challenge providers around ensuring improvement – it is a concern.”
No boundaries
Global collaboration, a major theme of the conference, has always been vital to infection prevention, Cooper said, but the media and public consciousness have had a growing awareness of these issues in re- cent years.
She continued: “There are very effective collaborations around. The major organ- isation I would flag up is the International Federation of Infection Control – the IPS is a supporting member. They bring together societies on an international and global basis by providing tools and resources and holding an annual conference.
“One of the big challenges with infection is that it’s never done.”
“They encourage collaborations with soci- eties from across the globe, so we can share learning of emerging issues, and develop programmes in a more coordinated and systematic manner. This helps us control infection because of course the bugs don’t know any boundaries, or borders.”
Staying focused
Cooper suggested that the biggest chal- lenges in infection prevention are keeping up with the progress that has been made al- ready, to stop that work from going to waste.
She said: “The continuing emergence of novel micro-organisms and resistant or- ganisms really challenges our ability to provide treatment.
“There’s a new call led by the British Soci- ety for Anti-Microbial Chemotherapy for ‘Antibiotic Action’. This call is for manu- facturers and the Government to recognise the need to invest in the development of new groups of antibiotics; some micro- organisms are becoming so resistant that treatment is incredibly difficult.
“The challenge is making sure that the gains we’ve made in recent years with in- fection prevention and reduction are main- tained, sustained and built upon. Given the current economic climate and the pres- sures and the changes within the health sector, there is a real danger that this will slip down the agenda.”
Considering the Health & Social Care Bill, Cooper warns that the reforms could nega- tively affect our advances in infection pre- vention. Such massive economic pressure and organisational change could lead to in- fection prevention receiving lower priority, leaving infections to rise.
Cooper explained: “There’s a danger that we could lose some focus on infection. One of the big challenges with infection is that it’s never done. You can never turn your back on it. You can make huge progress but if you step back and allow things to drift or slip then infection will regain an upper hand and numbers will increase again.
“We have economic challenges, we have major
changes around organisational
structure within primary care and with commissioning. The ability and capability of commissioners intelligently continuing to challenge providers around ensuring improvement – it is a concern.
“The Infection Preven- tion Society hopes to continue to act as a re- source for its members, and to influence contin- ued improvement in in- fection prevention na- tionally and globally.”
Tracey Cooper
FOR MORE INFORMATION Visit
www.ips.uk.net
national health executive Nov/Dec 11 | 65
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