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Showing results for tags 'Infection control'.
Found 641 results
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Content ArticleThe hospital environment in general and single room accommodation in particular are potentially important factors influencing the quality of the care provided and patient outcomes. Two areas that have received much attention for the effect of single rooms on healthcare quality are infection rates and adverse events. New hospital design includes more single room accommodation but there is scant and ambiguous evidence relating to the impact on patient safety and staff and patient experiences. This study from Maben et al. found that both staff and patients perceived advantages and disadvantages in having all single room accommodation in hospitals, but more patients expressed a clear preference for single rooms. Single rooms are associated with higher costs but the difference is marginal over time.
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Infection control matters: podcast series
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Infection control
In this podcast series, Professor Brett Mitchell (from the University of Newcastle Australia), Associate Professor Deborah Friedman (Barwon Health), Martin Kiernan (University of West London and University of Newcastle) and Associate Professor Philip Russo (Monash University) discuss new research and issues on the topic of infection prevention and control. They talk to doctors, nurses, clinicians, academics and administrators. -
Content ArticleOzSAGE has created this infographic for creating safer indoor air for workspaces. It should be used with masks as a complete strategy. OzSAGE is a multi-disciplinary network of Australian experts from a broad range of sectors relevant to the well-being of the Australian population during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Content ArticleIn this blog for The BMJ Opinion, John Middleton argues that the Government must act now, or be faced with much tougher decisions and less popular choices as the winter kicks in. He describes the increasing rates of Covid-19 in the UK and the need for action to avoid a healthcare crisis this winter, highlighting that the NHS and the BMA have both called for urgent action to protect the NHS. He urges the Government to take a multi-faceted approach and use the 'Swiss Cheese' model to combat the spread of coronavirus, rather than focusing on single measures. Living with the virus involves changes to normal life, but they are a small price to pay to save lives, protect people from the long term effects of Covid and prevent the evolution of new virus strains.
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Content ArticleThis animation by the Rockefeller Foundation explains how the 'Swiss Cheese' model can be applied to containing the spread of COVID-19. Combining different methods of infection control such as wearing face masks, social distancing and vaccination, creates a more solid and resilient barrier to transmission.
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Content ArticleA new report from two House of Commons committees highlights the UK’s failed pandemic response. Martin McKee, professor of European Public Health, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, unpicks the findings.
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Content ArticleA major report from a year-long joint inquiry by the House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee and Science and Technology Committee has now been published and offers a forensic analysis of six aspects of the government’s response to covid. Chris Ham is chair of the Coventry and Warwickshire Integrated Care System, Co-Chair of the NHS Assembly and non-executive director of the Royal Free London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, and gave evidence to the inquiry. In this BMJ Opinion article, Chris discusses the report, the recommendations and the omissions.
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The House of Commons Science and Technology Committee and Health and Social Care Committee have published their Report following a joint inquiry, which began in October 2020, examining six key areas of the UK's response to COVID-19: the country's preparedness for a pandemic; the use of non-pharmaceutical interventions such as border controls, social distancing and lockdowns to control the pandemic; the use of test, trace and isolate strategies; the impact of the pandemic on social care; the impact of the pandemic on specific communities; and the procurement and roll-out of COVID-19 vaccines. The 150-page Report contains 38 recommendations to the Government and public bodies, and draws on evidence from over 50 witnesses as well as over 400 written submissions. The inquiry concluded that some initiatives were examples of global best practice but others represented mistakes. Both must be reflected on to ensure that lessons are applied to better inform future responses to emergencies. -
Content ArticleThis video presents some highlights of the HSJ Patient Safety Awards on 20 September 2021 at Manchester Central, and includes short interviews with some of the judges and award winners. The HSJ Patient Safety Awards were set up to recognise and celebrate projects that improve patient safety and quality of care. This year, the judges commented that nominees across 23 categories were all of a very high quality and presented innovative projects that made real improvements to patient safety in the NHS. "The quality of this year was quite phenomenal - we were really impressed at how inventive people had been in coming up with solutions to COVID as part of safety strategies," said Lesley Durham, President of the International Society of Rapid Response Systems and member of the awards judging panel. The awards showcase excellent projects and ways of working that have potential to be replicated in other areas. A team from Devon Partnership Trust/Royal Devon and Exeter Foundation Trust won the award for Mental Health Initiative of the Year for their project 'Connecting physical and mental health services in Gastroenterology'. A representative from the team said, "What we want to do now is take this, shout about it and make it happen elsewhere." Many award winners commented on the importance of teamwork across services and trusts and recognised that collaboration was a key part of the success of their projects. View the full list of award winners
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Content ArticleThis report by The Queen Elizabeth Hospital King's Lynn NHS Foundation Trust identifies successes and areas for improvement in the Trust's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic resulted in rapid and large-scale changes to ways of working and this report recognises that staff were largely responsive and adaptable to these changes in challenging circumstances. The report looks at learning and recommendations from: the Duty of Candour exercise carried out for patients who contracted COVID-19 in hospital the Trust's clinical teams.
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Content ArticleThis study, published online by Cambridge University Press, looks at the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on incidences of healthcare-associated infection in hospitals in the United States of America. The authors analyse events reported to the National Healthcare Safety Network for 2019 and 2020 by acute-care hospitals.
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Content ArticleThe COVID-19 pandemic has overwhelmed the respiratory isolation capacity in hospitals; many wards lacking high-frequency air changes have been repurposed for managing patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 requiring either standard or intensive care. Hospital-acquired COVID-19 is a recognised problem amongst both patients and staff, with growing evidence for the relevance of airborne transmission. This study from Conway-Morris et al. examined the effect of air filtration and ultra-violet (UV) light sterilisation on detectable airborne SARS-CoV-2 and other microbial bioaerosols.
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Content ArticleUK prime minister Boris Johnson recently announced a fuzzy blueprint for his “winter plan”, in which further lockdowns and compulsory mask-wearing were not being introduced but could not be ruled out. In a blog to the Conversation, Trish Greenhalgh, Professor of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford, offers an alternative blueprint.
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Content ArticleThis article, published by WIRED, tells the story of Linsey Marr, an aerosol scientist at Virginia Tech and one of the few in the world who also studies infectious diseases. When the new coronavirus was discovered, Linsey and colleagues were deeply concerned that it had been labelled as 'not airborne'.
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Content ArticleIn this comment piece, published by the Lancet, authors propose that it is a scientific error to use lack of direct evidence of SARS-CoV-2 in some air samples to cast doubt on airborne transmission while overlooking the quality and strength of the overall evidence base. There is consistent, strong evidence that SARS-CoV-2 spreads by airborne transmission. Although other routes can contribute, they believe that the airborne route is likely to be dominant.
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Content ArticleThis Joint Committee International handbook offers checklists for healthcare staff to keep themselves safe from chemical and physical hazards, infectious agents, workplace violence, ergonomic problems, work-related stress, and more. The book also includes managers’ checklists to ensure that the right administrative controls and processes are in place to safeguard health care staff. All checklists are based on authoritative, evidence-based sources that have proven valuable. All the checklists are straightforward and easy to use and understand and cover the key areas of risk for health care workers. Each section of checklists is introduced by compelling statistics that show how dangerous working in the healthcare environment can be, without proper precautions. The checklists provide the procedures or must-do activities to ensure that health care workers are as safe as can be.
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Content ArticleIn the United States many areas have returned to a 'new normal,' as the COVID-19 pandemic has come under control. In this blog, Dr Michael Ramsay, Chairman of the Board, Patient Safety Movement Foundation looks at what we learned and where we failed.
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WHO: Your 5 moments for hand hygiene (5 May 2009)
Sam posted an article in Improving patient safety
Poster from the World Health Organization (WHO). -
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hub topic lead Julie Storr highlights World Hand Hygiene Day and why hand hygiene in healthcare is one small but important part of keeping people safe. -
Content ArticleBuildings have been associated with spread of infectious diseases, such as outbreaks of measles, influenza, and Legionella. With SARS-CoV-2, the majority of outbreaks involving three or more people have been linked with time spent indoors, and evidence confirms that far-field airborne transmission (defined as within-room but beyond 6 feet) of SARS-CoV-2 is occurring. In this paper, Allen et al. discuss how controlling concentrations of indoor respiratory aerosols to reduce airborne transmission of infectious agents is critical and can be achieved through source control (masking, physical distancing) and engineering controls (ventilation and filtration).
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Content ArticleMany of us are hoping vaccines against coronavirus will be our route out of lockdown, enabling us to reclaim our old lives. But scientists say jabs alone will not currently be enough and other measures are still needed. The problem is that no single measure to prevent the spread of coronavirus is 100% effective, and that includes vaccines. This animated BBC article uses the Swiss Cheese respiratory panedemic defence model, first created by Ian M Mackay, a virologist at the University of Queensland, Australia, to explain.
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Content ArticleFew studies have explored the work of sterile processing departments (SPD) from a systems perspective. Effective decontamination is critical for removing organic matter and reducing microbial levels from used surgical instruments prior to disinfection or sterilisation and is delivered through a combination of human work and supporting technologies and processes. In this paper, Alfred et al. we report the results of a work systems analysis that sought to identify the complex multilevel interdependencies that create performance variation in decontamination and identify potential improvement interventions.
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Content ArticleThis guide, from the Social Care Institute for Excellence, aims to support day care managers, social workers, commissioners and providers, to restart or continue activities following the COVID-19 social distancing restrictions. It is focused on community-based day services, day centres (with and without personal care), including specialised day centre environments, and those with outdoor spaces.
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Prevention of Future Deaths report – Brian Button
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Coroner reports
Brian Button, 78 years old, was admitted to the Royal Sussex County Hospital following a fall but contracted COVID-19 pneumonitis on the Catherine James ward within the Acute Respiratory Unity. Senior coroner for Brighton and Hove, Veronica Hamilton-Deeley, in the coroner's report, said that the ward contained 13 beds and that these beds were not socially distanced. A patient review confirmed this. The Royal Sussex County Hospital has responded. -
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ECRI: Top 10 patient safety concerns 2021
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in International patient safety
ECRI Institute's Top 10 patient Safety concerns for 2021 report highlights patient safety concerns across the continuum of care because patient safety strategies increasingly focus on collaborating with other provider organisations, community agencies, patients or residents, and family members. Each patient safety concern on this list may affect more than one setting and involve a wide range of personnel.
