Infection prevention
Tackling emerging threats in infection prevention
At the recent Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) conference, deadly fungal infections, increasing drug-resistance, and rapidly mutating viruses were all high on the agenda. Learning lessons from the past, effective diagnostics, and ensuring preparedness will be key. Louise Frampton reports.
Taking place at the National Conference Centre in Birmingham, the IPC 2025 Conference cast a light on the emerging threats and ‘killer diseases hiding in plain sight’ – from Azole-resistant fungal infections to the emerging threat of multi-drug- resistant bacteria in hospital water. This was in addition to tackling the ongoing risks of surgical site infection and catheter-related infections, which continue to place a burden on the NHS, as well as causing significant pain and suffering for patients.
Learning lessons in IPC IPC 2025 opened with a thought-provoking reflection on the recent past; the pandemic provided an opportunity to learn some difficult lessons around resilience and preparedness, and the findings and ambitions of the COVID-19 inquiry set the scene for the first sessions of the Conference. Rose Gallagher MBE, Royal College of Nursing
Professional Lead IPC/Sustainability, gave an insight into the Inquiry, explaining that RCN has made a significant contribution to the evidence provided. This has included an extensive document review of over 30,000 documents, drafting detailed witness statements, attending hearings and promoting a listening exercise on social media and at the RCN Congress. She provided an overview of some of the headline findings, to date, which included: l The UK prepared for the wrong pandemic resulting in an inadequate response.
l There was too much focus on hospital care at the expense of those in community or social care.
l Years of underfunding and health service restructures led to the NHS not being prepared.
l Political priorities were focused on Brexit. l Previous lessons from incidents hadn’t been acted upon.
l The nursing workforce crisis was already entrenched.
l Nursing experts weren’t involved in shaping guidance and decisions affecting the nursing workforce.
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“The learning from the Inquiry is huge…I have worked in IPC for many years, and I’ve had the experience of observing – or being part of – a number of incidents. The last seminal moment for me was back in 2006, following outbreaks of C. difficile, which ultimately resulted in the code of practice that many of you will be familiar with today. Before the outbreaks of C.difficile, we did not have a code of practice to which healthcare providers were regulated against, in relation to IPC. “The seminal moment now is around learning
and reflecting (within the context of IPC) on the impact that our decisions have – not just on our immediate patients but the ripple effect throughout society when decisions are made that impinge on individuals’ rights and the economy,” she commented. She highlighted the importance of understanding: the impact on healthcare workers; how we can develop PPE that is effective and protects our healthcare workers in the future; the psychological effect on the bereaved and those who were unable to be with their loved ones
when they died; and how healthcare workers are perceived by the public. She pointed out that this pandemic was different to previous pandemics as it played out in an era of widespread use of social media – this can be extremely harmful, as well as having benefits. She discussed how the pandemic could
change attitudes and actions. It is a seminal moment in IPC, and an opportunity to learn and evolve as a specialism. It could lead to huge changes in how hospitals and health and care work – shaping the next 10 years. In addition, it could lead to greater awareness
of the effects of infection on staff and the wider workforce – both in terms of acute illness and Long COVID. It could provide an opportunity to acknowledge the huge burden on IPC staff and other specialists, including the moral injury/ distress that occurred. The Inquiry is also an opportunity to reflect on transmission and ‘historical’ dogma. However, the biggest opportunity of all,
according to Rose Gallagher, is to reshape the culture and application of IPC in practice.
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