COMMENT AND CONTENTS


THE CLINICAL SERVICES JOURNAL


INFECTION PREVENTION


Editor


Louise Frampton louiseframpton@stepcomms.com


Technical Editor Kate Woodhead Business Manager


Dean Walford deanwalford@stepcomms.com


Sales Executive Holly Goldring hollygoldring@stepcomms.com


Journal Administration


Katy Cockle katycockle@stepcomms.com


Design Steven Dillon Publisher


Geoff King geoffking@stepcomms.com


Publishing Director Trevor Moon trevormoon@stepcomms.com


THE CLINICAL SERVICES JOURNAL is published in January, February, March, April, May, June, August, September, October and November by Step Communications Ltd, Step House, North Farm Road, Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN2 3DR, UK.


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© Step Communications Ltd, 2021 Single copy: £19.00 per issue. Annual journal subscription: UK £114.00 Overseas: £150.00


ISSN No. 1478-5641


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Time to refocus on the fundamentals of care


In this issue, we hear some powerful messages from leading infection prevention leaders, speaking at the Infection Prevention Society’s first face-to-face conference since the pandemic. The overriding message is the need to learn lessons, to remain vigilant, but it is now time to refocus on ‘business as usual’ and the fundamentals of care. Discussion is returning to the familiar foes of MRSA, C.difficile, SSIs and antimicrobial resistance, but the attention is moving towards a ‘whole health economy’ strategy, having learnt some hard lessons from the impact of COVID on care homes. At the annual Infection Prevention and Control Conference (8-9th February 2022), NHS England/Improvement will announce new guidelines for Infection Prevention and Control which will support this approach. Implementing these guidelines and driving change across health and social care will be a monumental challenge for 2022


4 Cover story: Transforming patient isolation capacities


6 News


9 Focusing on the fundamentals At IP2021, experts highlighted the need to re-focus on core IP&C issues. While it is important to learn lessons from the pandemic, we also need to view IP&C through a ‘new lens’ and consider the fundamentals of nursing care.


15 Compassion and IPC: time for a hard reset?


Julie Storr calls for a ‘hard reset’ in IP&C, to ensure compassionate care is not overlooked, amidst efforts to eliminate risk from infectious diseases.


21 Advantages of quaternary ammonium compounds Tim Sandle discusses the advantages of quaternary ammonium compounds for ward disinfection and infection control.


27 Tackling environmental transmission of HCAIs Surface transmission has been identified as an important route of pathogen spread. Jade Pallett discusses viral and bacterial transmission and looks at the key issues and evidence.


and beyond. Infection prevention teams have been challenged to the extreme by COVID-19, but the discipline now has the ear of every hospital board, as well as Government Ministers. There is an opportunity to use this influence and as leverage for change.


At the same time, Julie Storr warns that infection prevention and control must be used as a ‘force for good’. We must always consider the impact of our actions and put compassion at the forefront of all we do. This issue provides an insight into strategies, thought-leadership and solutions to help make healthcare safer for patients – from decontamination and best practice guidance; to discussion of how the sector must move forward in the wake of the pandemic.


Louise Frampton l Editor louiseframpton@stepcomms.com


32 Rapid detection of infection Carolyne Horner discusses the diversity of point-of-care tests (POCTs) available for the rapid detection of infection and the key issues relevant to their uptake.


39 Enhancing IP&C in endoscopy Debbie McKinney explores innovative approaches to infection prevention in endoscopy services, and the knock-on impacts for cost and efficiency savings.


43 A ‘whole hospital approach’ to IP&C


Yvonne Spencer describes how a ‘whole hospital approach’ is the cornerstone to infection prevention.


48 POC testing of trauma patients for MRSA Torbay Hospital has implemented point-of-care testing for MRSA to decrease turnaround times and increase bed occupancy.


51 Decontamination strategies in ICU


The pandemic has highlighted the importance of robust IP&C strategies for ICUs.


54 Products WWW.CLINICALSERVICESJOURNAL.COM l 3


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