Infection control statement

Annual Infection Control Statement for Willows Group Limited

Purpose

This annual statement will be generated each year in January 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. It summarises:

• 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.
• Details of any risk assessments undertaken for prevention and control of infection.
• Details of staff training.
• Any review and update of policies, procedures, and guidelines.

Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Lead for Willows Group Limited is the Director of Nursing.

Infection transmission incidents (Significant Events)

Significant events (which may involve examples of good practice as well as challenging events) are investigated in detail to see what can be learned and to indicate changes that might lead to future improvements. All significant events are reviewed every week with the Head of Quality and Governance with learning cascaded to all relevant staff.

In the past year there have been 0 significant events raised that related to infection control.

Infection Prevention Audit and Actions

The Annual Infection Prevention and Control audit was completed by Isabelle Skevington.

Willows Group Limited plan to undertake the following audits in 2024/2025:

Hand hygiene

Adequate handwashing facilities are available and easily accessible for all staff. This allows washing hands in hot water using the correct technique. Liquid soap, paper towels and alcohol gel are available. Disposable gloves and other PPE are available and used as appropriate in clinical areas.

An audit of hand washing is undertaken throughout the year capturing all staff working within the organisation.

Environmental audits

Environmental audits are undertaken to ensure that the clinical areas are fit for purpose.

Implementation of the National Standards for Healthcare Cleanliness at all sites states monthly, 3 monthly and annual audits are undertaken to rate the cleanliness of the buildings.

General clinical waste audits

Audits are to be undertaken annually to ensure that bins are easily accessible to staff at point of use. In clinical areas they should be lidded and operated with a foot pedal.

• Waste is assessed and segregated appropriately.
• Waste bags are:
  • maximum two thirds full and securely tied
  • labelled with the address and date before collection
  • stored in a secure, clean designated area while awaiting collection.

Medicine waste

Audits are to be undertaken annually and are to include the following:

• Medicine waste is stored in a designated bin and collected regularly by an appropriate waste contractor.
• Purple topped bins, including sharps bins must be available. This is for the disposal of cytotoxic medicines (which include hormones).
• Staff are provided with training to understand which medicines should be disposed of in each bin.
• Labels, prescriptions and other patient identifiable documents are treated as confidential waste.

Sharps

Sharps audits are to be undertaken annually and include:

• Sharps are assessed and disposed of in the correct container. Containers are orange, yellow or purple lidded depending on nature of the item.
• Containers are labelled on assembly and on locking. They are not filled above the black line.
• All staff are assessed for risk of contracting blood borne viruses and are offered vaccination as appropriate.
• The process for action following a sharps injury is clear and accessible to all staff.

Risk Assessments

Risk assessments are carried out so that best practice can be established and then followed. In the last year the following risk assessments were carried out / reviewed:

Legionella (Water) Risk Assessment: The organisation has conducted and reviewed its water safety risk assessment to ensure that the water supply does not pose a risk to patients, visitors, or staff.

Immunisation: As a company we ensure that all clinical staff are up to date with occupational health vaccinations applicable to their role (i.e., MMR, Covid, Hep B & Seasonal Flu). We take part in the National Immunisation campaigns and offer vaccinations as appropriate.

COSHH

Review of product data sheets annually. Inspection of storage and use of COSHH items annually.

Training

All staff undertake annual training in infection prevention and control.

Hand washing training is included in the annual IPC training and technique is assessed throughout the year as audits are carried out.

Policies

All Infection Prevention and Control related policies are in date for this year.

Policies relating to Infection Prevention and Control are available to all staff and are reviewed and updated annually and all are amended on an on-going basis as current advice, guidance, and legislation changes. The Infection Control policy is available to all staff in both a hard copy format and online. When reviewed, notification is sent to staff.

Responsibility

It is the responsibility of everyone to be familiar with this Statement and their roles and responsibilities under this.

Date review completed

January 2024

Responsibility for Review

The Infection Prevention and Control Lead Nurse and Head of Quality and Governance are responsible for reviewing and producing the Annual Statement.