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Professional Resources
Prevent the spread of infection
It may be impossible to stop some infections from happening, but the purpose of infection prevention and control is to reduce the risk of the infection spreading.
Some examples of the measures that can be put into place are detailed below.
Standard precautions
Everyday practices to be used to prevent the growth and / or spread of infections.
Hand hygiene
As long as hand hygiene is done correctly, it is one of the most important activities that we can do to reduce the spread of infection.
- Clean hands save lives - NHS – these 12 steps to hand hygiene is a very good guide and is recommended over the 6 steps below
- Get wise to hand hygiene - British Healthcare Trades Association (BHTA) – 6 steps to hand hygiene
- Tools of the trade: Guidance for health care staff on glove use and the prevention of contact dermatitis – Royal college of nursing
Personal protective equipment
Protecting workers personal body and / or their uniform, using equipment such as gloves and aprons, can reduce the spread of infection.
Personal protective equipment – Royal college of nursing
Safe handling and disposal of sharps
A sharps injury can be from any sharp object such as a:
- medical instrument
- splinter
- piece of sharp plastic or glass
- knife
It is important to know how to immediately deal with these injuries, the process is detailed in:
Management of staff exposure to potential and actual blood borne virus infections in care homes Opens new windowOpens new window
Managing the risks of sharps injuries – NHS Employers
Cleaning and decontamination
When performed correctly, the opportunities for infections to breed and grow are removed.
In the right environment some infections can survive for years without being detected. Terminals not been cleaned and decontaminated effectively are one of the most common causes of re-infection.
- National specifications for cleanliness: care homes - NHS
- Revised healthcare cleaning manual - NHS national patient safety agency
- Colour coding hospital cleaning materials and equipment – NHS national patient safety agency
- Efficacy evaluation of surface disinfection wipes - Technical brief: EN 16615:2015 - Pal
- Mattress decontamination poster – Gov.uk
Waste disposal
It is important that infectious waste is bagged correctly and sent to be incinerated to kill the infection. This procedure is expensive so it is important that items which can be recycled or thrown away in general waste are not added to this disposal method.
If you’re in your own home, you’d need to discuss this with the relevant NHS agency such as your GP.
Healthcare and related wastes – Gov.uk
Laundry
Our clothes can be a breeding ground for microorganisms, which is why it would be wise to wash garments on the highest heat that a garment can take to get rid of these.
Decontamination of linen for health and social care (HTM 01-04) – Gov.uk
Source isolation
When someone begins to show symptoms of a possible infectious disease, they should be isolated until the risk of spreading the infection has passed. Staff should also be excluded from work as detailed in the:
Action checklist for source isolation precautions Opens new window
National guidance
- Health and social care act 2008 - Code of practice on the prevention and control of infections – Gov.uk
- Care homes: infection prevention and control – Gov.uk
- Infection prevention and control, Quality standard 61 – National institute of health and care excellence
- Healthcare associated infections: prevention and control in primary and community care, Clinical guideline CG139 – National institute of health and care excellence