Infection Prevention Control Policy

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Introduction

This Annual statement has been drawn up on in accordance with the requirement of the Health and Social Care Act 2008: code of practice on the prevention and control of infections and related guidance for .

It summarises:

1. Infection transmission incidents and actions taken
2. IPC audits undertaken and subsequent actions implemented
3. Risk assessments undertaken and any actions taken for prevention and control of infection
4. Staff training
5. Review and update of IPC policies, procedures and guidelines
6. Antimicrobial prescribing and stewardship

This statement has been drawn up by: Dr Toyin Oremakinde

1. Infection transmission incidents

Provide details of infection transmission incidents (which may involve examples of good practice as well as challenging events), how they were investigated, any lessons learnt, and changes made as a result to facilitate future improvements.

• None for the past 12 months

2. IPC Audits and actions

Provide an overview of IPC audit programme as well as examples of good practice and actions taken to address suboptimal compliance.

• Annual IPC Audit
• Hand Hygiene Audit, yearly update, last update June 2025.
• Rolling audit of antimicrobial prescribing.
• Daily cleaning schedule of equipment used by clinicians in each room to ensure high standards of cleanliness are maintained.
• Regular stock check in each clinical room including rotation of stock to prevent items expiring.
• Maintenance of cold chain/regular daily temperature logs by Practice Nurse/HCA
• Contract with a professional cleaning company to clean the workplace to CQC standards, using staff who are also trained in infection control and prevention. The cleaning undertaken is logged in a cleaning schedule book which is monitored by the infection control nursing lead.
• Maintenance of clear desk policy to facilitate adequate cleaning of desk, keyboard and table by the cleaners.
• The building has just undergone a refurbishment of the existing premises and an extension creating 6 additional clinical rooms, bringing the total number of clinical rooms to 11. Each room has been furnished according to CQC standards. All the clinical rooms have hand washing sinks, which are equipped with hands free operated taps. Furthermore, liquids soap is available in wall mounted soap dispensers.
• Washable privacy curtains, which are washed every 6 months.
• All relevant clinical /patient information leaflets/posters are displayed in lockable notice boards, to minimize the risk of infection/contamination. Alternatively, when a notice/leaflet is not stored in a display board, we ensure it is laminated, to facilitate regular cleaning and infection prevention.
• The entire surgery flooring in the clinical areas has been replaced and the new flooring is in keeping with infection control regulations/guidance about flooring.
• The waiting area is furnished with wipeable chairs.
• Face masks are available for use for both patients and staff, should the need arise.

3. Risk Assessments

Provide details of IPC related risk assessments carried out and actions taken to prevent and control infection.

• Annual IPC Audit
• Legionella Risk Assessment
• All our staff are up to date with the immunisations as applicable to their Job roles.

4. Staff training

Provide details of IPC induction training, annual updates and any other IPC related training.

Yearly mandatory training for all staff via Team net clarity with a completion rate of 90% for admin staff and 100% for clinical staff. IPC issues/updates are discussed regularly throughout the year at Clinical/ Practice meetings. 

5. IPC Policies, procedures and guidance

Provide details of all policy reviews and updates, together with details of how changes have been implemented.

The surgery’s IPC policy is based on that provided by Practice Index , the most recent update was April 2024, and last review was June 2025, this has been implemented by the practice. 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. Infection Control policies are stored on the shared staff drive and are available for reading and discussed at meetings on an annual basis.

6. Antimicrobial prescribing and stewardship

Provide details of all activities undertaken to promote and improve antimicrobial prescribing and stewardship.

• Annual rolling audit of antimicrobial prescribing.
• At induction all new clinical staff are provided with information on antimicrobial prescribing, based on the NEL Antibiotics Prescribing Guidance.
• All locum clinical staff are provided with a locum induction folder, which amongst many other things also informs them about our antibiotics prescribing policy.

Forward plan/Quality improvement plan

• Issue: Legionella Risk Assessment
• Actions: Implementation of findings from Legionella Risk Assessment
• Date for completion: July 2025
• Person responsible: DR K Oremakinde
• Progress: On target for completion