Purpose
This annual statement will be generated each year in October, 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. The report will be published on the organisation’s website and will include the following summary:
- 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 carried out and actions undertaken
- Details of any risk assessments undertaken for the prevention and control of infection
- Details of staff training
- Any review and update of policies, procedures and guidelines
Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) lead
The lead for infection prevention and control at Queens Avenue Surgery is Anneka Moxom, Practice Nurse.
The IPC lead is supported by Ryan Burden, Practice Manager.
a. Infection transmission incidents (significant events)
Significant events involve examples of good practice as well as challenging events.
Positive events are discussed at meetings to allow all staff to be appraised in areas of best practice.
Negative events are managed by the staff member who either identified or was advised of any potential shortcoming. This person will complete a Significant Event Analysis (SEA) form which commences an investigation process to establish what can be learnt and to indicate changes that might lead to future improvements.
All significant events are reviewed and discussed at several meetings each month. Any learning points are cascaded to all relevant staff where an action plan, including audits or policy review, may follow.
In the past year, there have been zero significant events raised which related to infection control. There have also been zero complaints made regarding cleanliness or infection control.
b. Infection prevention audit and actions
Annual general practice IPC Audit carried out in August 2024, Hand hygiene audits carried out October 2024, the outcomes of the audits can be found in the Infection Control folder on practice index.
Voyager Cleaning conduct a monthly cleaning audit and the outcomes are submitted to the practice. These are periodically checked by the Practice Manager. All audits are stored in the Infection Control folder on the practice library and/or in the file in the laundry room.
Fridge cleaning audits are carried out quarterly – March, June, September and December
Audits planned for following year are:
- Annual infection prevention and control audit
- Hand wash audit
- Fridge cleaning audit
- Sharps Audit
c. Risk assessments
Risk assessments are carried out so that any risk is minimised and made to be as low as is reasonably practicable. Additionally, a risk assessment that can identify best practice can be established and then followed.
In the last year, the following risk assessments were carried out/reviewed:
General IPC Risks
A suggested list, but one that is not exhaustive, could contain the following:
- General IPC risks
- Staffing, new joiners and ongoing training
- COSHH
- Cleaning standards
- Privacy curtain cleaning or changes
- Staff vaccinations
- Infrastructure changes
- Sharps
- Water safety
- Toys
- Assistance dogs
d. Training
In addition to staff being involved in risk assessments and significant events, at Queens Avenue Surgery all staff and contractors receive IPC induction training on commencing their post. Thereafter, all staff receive refresher training annually.
IPC training can be completed online via Practice index. Ryan Burden, Practice Manager monitors staff compliance with this.
e. Policies and procedures
The infection prevention and control-related policies are accessible in the IPC handbook on practice index and are written in conjunction with NHS Standard Community Infection Prevention and Control Protocols for General Practice.
Policies relating to infection prevention and control are available to all staff and are reviewed and updated annually. Additionally, all policies are amended on an ongoing basis as per current advice, guidance and legislation changes.
f. Responsibility
It is the responsibility of all staff members at Queens Avenue Surgery to be familiar with this statement and their roles and responsibilities under it.
g. Review
The IPC lead and Ryan Burden, Practice Manager are responsible for reviewing and producing the annual statement.
This annual statement will be updated on or before 25/10/2025.