Infection prevention
reassurance that every setting is underpinned by the same commitment to safety.
Starting from a strong baseline We introduced ANTT into our hospitals 10 years ago and expanded its use to our medical centres and clinics four years ago. While Nuffield Health already had robust infection prevention systems in place, ANTT accreditation offered a way to unify these practices under a single, nationally recognised standard. Our primary care services - delivered in our fitness and wellbeing clubs - are clinical environments, staffed by trained clinicians and aligned to the same standards that govern our hospitals and medical centres. Including these clinics in our ANTT implementation was essential because they deliver procedures such as phlebotomy, health assessments, and injections, all of which require consistent aseptic practice.
Why achieving ANTT Gold across 90+ sites was a significant challenge Achieving ANTT can be challenging within a hospital environment – especially with a diverse clinical workforce, which includes bank staff that may not work on site regularly. This creates natural variance, so maintaining a strict approach is crucial. It’s even harder in non- traditional settings. While our clinical teams in fitness and wellbeing clubs are highly skilled and trained, invasive procedures are less frequent, and skills can fade without regular practice. Achieving uniformity across more than 90 primary and secondary care sites is also challenging, as each setting operates with different workflows, pressures, and resource availability. Collating data from multiple sites
to produce clear, standardised reports is time- consuming and complex, but this is critical to success.
How we achieved ANTT Gold in five months Our rapid achievement of ANTT Gold within five months was driven by strategic clarity, strong leadership, and a culture of shared responsibility. Our first action was to review the
requirements. We examined the full Gold ANTT workbook and separated out the expectations into a detailed work plan. This allowed us to assess and update our policy, ANTT clinical procedure guidelines, ANTT training, competency assessments, job descriptions, and audit processes. We held a brainstorming session
to identify barriers, gather ideas, and agree practical solutions to support successful Gold- level implementation.
Understanding the importance of keeping all
our teams informed and up to date, we created and launched a comprehensive communications plan. This started from the top, with an update from our CEO, and continued through the organisation. We had regular touchpoints across key governance forums, launched a dedicated resource site, and held regular calls and drop-in sessions, which were tailored for primary and secondary care – recognising the distinct challenges faced by each. We maintained regular engagement with ANTT UK, working closely with them from the outset – going through their workbook line-by-line to ensure clarity on expectations. Often accreditation bodies can seem detached or distant, but ANTT are forthcoming and supportive. They wanted us to succeed, so if your organisation is embarking on this journey, use them! We increased the frequency of our audits and
arranged refresher training, which responded to gaps identified by those audits, and we produced one-page posters covering key terms, pocket prompt cards, and a standardised report templates for all sites – including space for local photos and evidence. All of this placed our sites in a good position
and allowed us to be confident that we had high standards across the board. But… we all know that when it comes to visits and reviews, anything can happen on the day. People get nervous, freeze, and forget things that are drilled into them. We wanted to leave nothing
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