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Showing results for tags 'Infection control'.
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Content ArticleAntimicrobial agents, such as antibiotics, are essential to treat some human and animal infectious diseases. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) occurs when microorganisms change so that they are no longer affected by antimicrobial drugs used to treat them. There are different types of antimicrobials, which work against different types of microorganisms, such as antibacterials or antibiotics against bacteria, antivirals against viruses, and antifungals against fungi. Antimicrobials are often used incorrectly. The development of resistance is accelerated by the inappropriate use of these drugs, for example, using antibiotics (which help to treat bacteria) for viral infections like flu, or as a growth promoter in agriculture. Because of growing resistance, the world is running out of effective antibiotics to treat infectious diseases. Unless appropriate action is taken, decades of progress in health and medicine risk being undone. In May 2015, the World Health Assembly (WHA) endorsed a global action plan on AMR and urged all WHO Member States to develop national action plans (NAPs). The Seventy-third session of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe launched the new European roadmap on AMR (2023–2030) to help accelerate the implementation of national strategies on AMR. The new brief from WHO Regional Office for Europe highlights the important connections between AMR infection prevention and control.
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News ArticleThe Royal College of Nursing has warned of an increase risk of Covid among hospital staff and patients due to the NHS’s failure to follow World Health Organization advice about infection control during a current spike in cases. The most recent figures showed one in 24 people in England and Scotland had Covid on 13 December, up from one in 55 two weeks before. Last week WHO expressed concern about a new subvariant of Omicron, labelled JN.1, after its rapid spread in the Americas, western Pacific and European regions. To tackle the increase, the WHO advised that all health facilities “implement universal masking” and give health workers “respirators and other PPE”. Now the RCN has written to the four chief nursing officers in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland asking why this guidance has not been introduced across the NHS. The letter, seen by the Guardian, points out that existing guidance in the national infection prevention and control manual (NIPCM) does not mandate hospital staff to use masks. It also leaves decisions about respirators to local risk assessors. The RCN says this guidance to UK hospitals is “inconsistent” with WHO advice. The letter by Patricia Marquis, the RCN’s director for England, calls for urgent revision to the NIPCM guidance to ensure the “universal implementation” of masks and respirators for health workers. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 22 December 2023
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News Article
Warning lack of line flushing leading to ‘under delivery’ of IV antibiotics
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The under delivery of intravenous antibiotics in some NHS hospitals due to lack of polices and compliance may be contributing to antimicrobial resistance (AMR), according to a parliamentary report. Findings in the report indicated that many health service organisations do not have policies in place to reduce the risk of under delivery and those that do can struggle to comply fully with them. The report’s authors warned that the residual volume of antibiotic remaining in the line of the IV administration set can result in under delivery of up to 30% of the prescribed dose. They said that, as a result, this could be leading to possible resistance within patients, owing to the accumulative effect. Nurses involved with compiling the document have called for action. Based on the findings, the report recommended that all NHS organisations implement line flushing policies by late 2024, with support from the Department for Health and Social Care. Read full story (paywalled) Source: Nursing Times, 9 December 2023 Further reading on the hub: Short-term intermittent IV antibiotics – Understanding the issue of under delivery Understanding the importance of accurate antibiotic administration through an IV administration set (drip): A patient’s guide Top picks: 10 key resources on antimicrobial resistance -
Content ArticleThe Covid-19 pandemic increased the sense of urgency to advance understanding and prevention of infectious respiratory disease transmission. There are extensive studies that demonstrate scientific understanding about the behaviour of larger (droplets) and smaller (aerosols) particles in disease transmission as well as the presence of particles in the respiratory track. Methods for respiratory protection against particles, such as N95 respirators, are available and known to be effective with tested standards for harm reduction. However, even though multiple studies also confirm their protective effect when N95 respirators are adopted in healthcare and public settings for infection prevention, overall, studies of protocols of their adoption over the last several decades have not provided a clear understanding. This preprint article demonstrates limitations in the methodology used to analyse the results of these studies. The authors show that existing results, when outcome measures are properly analysed, consistently point to the benefit of precautionary measures such as N95 respirators over medical masks, and masking over its absence.
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Content Article
WHO Global Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Portal
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in WHO
This World Health Organization (WHO) resource is for all health workers, as well as other professionals working in the field of infection prevention and control (IPC). It will help you carry out a situational analysis, track progress and understand how to make improvements to IPC at the national and facility levels, in accordance with validated WHO standards and implementation materials. All the WHO tools and resources are freely available for use by all. -
Content ArticleThis report summarises the findings arising from a comprehensive study of antibiotic ‘line flushing’ and disposal practices in NHS organisations across Great Britain. It argues that is a need for concerted, UK-wide action on antibiotic line flushing policies.
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Content Articlee-Bug, operated by the UK Health Security Agency, is a health education programme that aims to promote positive behaviour change among children and young people to support infection prevention and control efforts, and to respond to the global threat of antimicrobial resistance. e-Bug provides free resources for educators, community leaders, parents, and caregivers to educate children and young people and ensure they are able to play their role in preventing infection outbreaks and using antimicrobials appropriately.
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Content Article
As clinicians, our primary objective is to provide the best possible care to our patients. In this pursuit, the administration of short-term intermittent IV antibiotics plays a crucial role in combating infections and saving lives; however, there is an under recognised issue, under delivery, that results in the misuse of antibiotics and could be exacerbating antimicrobial resistance. In this blog, Claire Davies, Clinical Therapy Manager at B. Braun Medical Ltd., explores the issue of under delivery and provides essential insights for clinicians to optimise their antibiotic therapy. -
Content Article
As a patient receiving treatment for a bacterial infection through an IV administration set, commonly referred to as a drip, it’s essential to know that antibiotics play a crucial role in helping you get better. In this blog, Claire Davies, Clinical Therapy Manager at B. Braun Medical Ltd., explores an under-recognised issue that can affect your treatment, the unintentional under delivery of antibiotics via your drip. Claire explains why it’s important to ensure that all of your prescribed antibiotic dose is delivered via your drip and the measures being taken by healthcare providers to ensure that this happens. -
Content ArticleDuring the pandemic, approximately 4.1 million people across the UK were identified as clinically extremely vulnerable (CEV) to Covid-19, and asked to shield for their own protection. This decision, made in the light of an unprecedented pandemic, would separate those with autoimmune inflammatory conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis, from the rest of society for their own protection. This report by the charity Versus Arthritis presents qualitative research led by Dr Charlotte Sharp, a consultant rheumatologist, Lynn Laidlaw who has an autoimmune rheumatic disease and had to shield, and patient contributor Joyce Fox from the Centre for Epidemiology at the University of Manchester. It highlights the stories of people who lived through shielding and details the impact on their daily lives, their physical and mental wellbeing, their work, and their relationships with their families and the rest of society.
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Content ArticleIn this video, the Long Covid Groups' KC Anthony Metzer questions Professor Kamlesh Khunti to find out if he agrees that Long Covid should be cited as a reason not to allow Covid-19 to spread unchecked via non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs). Professor Khunti is a member of SAGE and former Chair of the National Long Covid Research Working Group.
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News ArticleThe Biden administration announced Wednesday that it is reviving a programme to mail free rapid coronavirus tests to Americans. Starting 25 September, people can request four free tests per household through covidtests.gov. Officials say the tests are able to detect the latest variants and are intended to be used through the end of the year. The return of the free testing program comes after Americans navigated the latest uptick in covid cases with free testing no longer widely available. The largest insurance companies stopped reimbursing the costs of retail at-home testing once the requirement to do so ended with the public health emergency in May. The Biden administration stopped mailing free tests in June. The Department of Health and Human Services also announced Wednesday that it was awarding $600 million to a dozen coronavirus test manufacturers. Agency officials said the funding would improve domestic manufacturing capacity and provide the federal government with 200 million over-the-counter tests to use in the future. “These critical investments will strengthen our nation’s production levels of domestic at-home COVID-19 rapid tests and help mitigate the spread of the virus,” HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement. Experts say free coronavirus testing proved to be an effective public health tool, allowing people to check their status before attending large gatherings or spending time with older or medically vulnerable people at risk of severe disease even after being vaccinated. It also enables people to start antiviral treatments in the early days of infection to prevent severe disease. Read full story (paywalled) Source: Washington Post, 20 September 2023
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Content ArticleThis bulletin from the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) describes two new in-hospital infections indicators for Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) and Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). It includes a table listing CIHI’s selected patient safety performance indicators and definitions.
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Content ArticleThe only masking that’s going on is that of the government’s continued failure to get to grips with the virus, writes George Monbiot in this Guardian opinion piece. For some people, going to hospital may now be more dangerous than staying at home untreated. Many clinically vulnerable people fear, sometimes with good reason, that a visit to hospital or the doctors’ surgery could be the end of them. Of course, there have always been dangers where sick people gather. But, until now, health services have sought to minimise them. Astonishingly, this is often no longer the case. Across the UK, over the past two years, the NHS has been standing down even the most basic precautions against Covid-19. For example, staff in many surgeries and hospitals are no longer required to wear face masks in most clinical settings. Reassuring posters have appeared even in cancer wards, where patients might be severely immunocompromised. A notice, photographed and posted on social media last week, tells people that while they are “no longer required to wear a mask in this area”, they should use hand sanitiser “to protect our vulnerable patients, visitors and our staff”. Sanitising is good practice. But Covid-19 is an airborne virus, which spreads further and faster by exhalation than by touch.
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Content ArticleEngland is well on the way towards its goal of eliminating hepatitis C; with over 84,000 patients treated and cleared, there are now more people that have been treated than are left to treat. However, there are still up to an estimated 70,000 people left to find—and what has worked to find patients so far, might not work so well for those that remain to be found. This is where former patients, also known as peers, come in. In this blog, Hepatitis C Trust CEO Rachel Halford and Mark Gillyon-Powell, Head of programme for hepatitis C at NHS England, look at how patient engagement has been essential to efforts to eliminate Hepatitis C in England.
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Content ArticleIn April 2023, National Voices held a workshop with members, supported by The Disrupt Foundation, on the unequal impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. It explored how communities and groups were affected differently by both the virus itself and the measures brought in to control it. It painted a grim picture of the ways in which the pandemic response exacerbated existing, deep-rooted inequalities across the UK and compounded the disadvantages experienced by people from minoritised communities, by disabled people and by people living with long term conditions. Just some examples include people who are immunocompromised, who were asked to go into isolation for huge periods of time and still feel completely overlooked as control measures have been lifted. Or the use of DNRs (Do Not Resuscitate orders) which were disproportionately applied to people with learning disabilities. With the Covid-19 Inquiry underway, it is imperative that we capture the lessons learnt from the pandemic, and use them to suggest action for the future.
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Content Article
Surgical Voices podcasts
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Surgery
A series of podcasts from Molnlycke UK, with host Steve Feast, discussing topics such as sustainability, patient safety and more. -
Content ArticleThis recent study published by the Journal of Hospital Infection, evaluated using patients as hand hygiene observers in an outpatient setting. It demonstrated that the implementation of a hand hygiene compliance improvement programme using the patient as the observer can be adopted successfully in the ambulatory setting.
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News ArticleClose contacts of people infected with monkeypox have criticised health officials for a lack of communication and support while they have to isolate. Public health experts and scientists have said the government needs to offer financial support to people forced to self-isolate for 21 days, as it emerged that one local council has already stepped in to provide sick pay for an infected man who could not work from home and was told he would not be paid. With cases of monkeypox on the rise in the UK – 106 were infections detected as of Friday – it’s thought hundreds of people have been told to self-isolate since the beginning of May. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said it was providing daily calls for infected individuals and close contacts to offer support. However, one man from Leicester, whose housemate contracted monkeypox after visiting Gran Canaria pride festival, described UKHSA’s handling of his case as a “farce”, saying he has waited days for instruction from officials. “They couldn’t provide any meaningful or helpful information and nothing about housemates or close contacts,” the housemate told The Independent. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has meanwhile said countries should take quick steps to contain the spread of monkeypox and share data about their vaccine stockpiles. Read full story Source: The Independent, 29 May 2022
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News Article
NHS England ends covid ‘command and control’ measures
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The NHS threat level in response to Covid-19 has been downgraded following drops in community cases and hospital inpatient numbers, NHS England chiefs have announced. The threat level to the health service has been dropped from a “level four” incident, which requires NHSE to “command and control” NHS resources in response to the pandemic, to a “level three” incident, which requires a response by a number of trusts within an NHS region. A letter from NHSE chief executive Amanda Pritchard and chief operating officer Sir David Sloman, published today, said local systems “need to ensure their resilience and capability to re-establish full incident responses” if needed. At NHSE’s board meeting she stressed that covid was still impacting the service. Trusts have also been reminded to relax visiting restrictions. The letter said all healthcare settings “should now begin transitioning back towards their own pre-pandemic [or better] policies on inpatient visiting and patients being accompanied in outpatient and [urgent and emergency care] services”. The default position for trusts should be “no patient having to be alone unless through their choice,” the letter said. It comes as some trusts have resisted pressure from government and NHSE to relax visiting restrictions. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 19 May 2022 -
News Article
Respiratory syncytial virus kills 100,000 under-fives every year
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Respiratory syncytial virus is killing 100,000 children under the age of five every year worldwide, new figures reveal as experts say the global easing of coronavirus restrictions is causing a surge in cases. RSV is the most common cause of acute lower respiratory infection in young children. It spreads easily via coughing and sneezing. There is no vaccine or specific treatment. RSV-attributable acute lower respiratory infections led to more than 100,000 deaths of children under five in 2019, according to figures published in the Lancet. Of those, more than 45,000 were under six months old, the first-of-its-kind study found. More children are likely to be affected by RSV in the future, experts believe, because masks and lockdowns have robbed children of natural immunity against a range of common viruses, including RSV. “RSV is the predominant cause of acute lower respiratory infection in young children and our updated estimates reveal that children six months and younger are particularly vulnerable, especially with cases surging as Covid-19 restrictions are easing around the world,” said the study’s co-author, Harish Nair of the University of Edinburgh. “The majority of the young children born in the last two years have never been exposed to RSV (and therefore have no immunity against this virus).” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 19 May 2022 -
News Article
Trusts resist visiting rule after ‘Javid threatens to call CEOs’
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Local clinical leaders are continuing to question pressure from government and NHS England to relax Covid-19 visiting restrictions. Visitors, and people accompanying patients, have been restricted throughout covid, and in recent months there has been substantial local variation. Ministers and NHSE, as well as other politicians and some patient groups, have been pressing for more relaxed restrictions for some time and in recent weeks have stepped up their instructions. National visiting guidance was eased in March, and other infection control guidance, including requiring the isolation of covid contacts, was relaxed last month. Last week, the Daily Telegraph reported health and social care secretary Sajid Javid planned to “name and shame” trusts not implementing the changes, and to call hospital chief executives directly about it. Meanwhile, chief nursing officer Ruth May reiterated the visiting rules last month, saying on Twitter: “We must not underestimate the important contribution that visiting makes to the wellbeing and personalised care of patients and make it happen.” However, an NHSE online meeting for clinical leaders on Friday was told that while “a great number of trusts have returned to previous visiting policies… we know there are trusts which haven’t implemented this fully”. One said: “It is very difficult to safely return to pre-covid visiting as some hospital’s estate can’t safely support visitors in already over-crowded [emergency departments] and increasingly busy [outpatient departments]. “Surely local risk assessment is key and should be supported rather than increasing pressure to simply blanketly return to pre-pandemic arrangements everywhere?” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 9 May 2022 You may also be interested in: Visiting restrictions and the impact on patients and their families: a relative's perspective It’s time to rename the ‘visitor’: reflections from a relative -
News Article
'Utterly inhumane' hospitals still ban bedside visitors as Covid cases plunge
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Hospitals are still banning patients from having bedside visitors in ‘immoral’ Covid restrictions. Last night, MPs, patient groups and campaigners criticised the postcode lottery that means some frail patients are still denied the support of loved ones. Nine trusts continue to impose total bans on any visitors for some patients, The Mail on Sunday has found. Almost half of trusts maintain policies so strict that they flaunt NHS England’s guidance that patients should be allowed at least two visitors a day. Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust and Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust are among those continuing total bans on visiting for some of their patients. University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH) has even been imposing its draconian restrictions on disabled patients who need special help for their care – only allowing visits on three days a week for a maximum of an hour each time. Tory MP Alicia Kearns said: ‘It is utterly unforgivable and immoral. There is no scientific evidence for any remaining inhumane restrictions on visiting. Trusts are breaching the rights of families. 'Visitors save lives, they advocate and calm their loved ones. When will this madness end?’ Read full story Source: MailOnline, 1 May 2022 You may also be interested in: Visiting restrictions and the impact on patients and their families: a relative's perspective It’s time to rename the ‘visitor’: reflections from a relative -
News Article
World faces ‘perfect storm’ for measles outbreak affecting children, WHO warns
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A spike in the number of measles cases around the world has sparked concerns over the potential for serious outbreaks this year. Almost 17,338 measles cases were reported worldwide in January and February 2022, compared to 9,665 during the first two months of last year – which represents a rise of 79%. Unicef and the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned that there is a “perfect storm” for serious outbreaks of the vaccine-preventable illnesses such as measles. As of this month, the agencies report 21 large and disruptive measles outbreaks around the world in the last 12 months. The five countries with the largest measles outbreaks since the past year include Somalia, Yemen, Nigeria, Afghanistan, and Ethiopia. The coronavirus pandemic has seen much of health funding and resources diverted to deal with the spread of the virus since 2020. In 2020, the first year of the pandemic, 23 million children missed out on basic childhood vaccines through routine health services, the highest number since 2009 and 3.7 million more than in 2019. These pandemic-related disruptions – as well as increasing inequalities in access to vaccines – has left many children without protection against contagious diseases while Covid restrictions are eased in most countries, the two organisations said. Read full story Source: The Independent, 28 April 2022 -
News Article
Covid: Discharging hospital patients to care homes 'unlawful'
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Government policies on discharging untested patients from hospital to care homes in England at the start of the Covid pandemic have been ruled unlawful by the High Court. The ruling comes after two women took former Health Secretary Matt Hancock and Public Health England to court. Dr Cathy Gardner and Fay Harris said it had caused a "shocking death toll". Prime Minister Boris Johnson renewed his apologies for all those who lost loved ones during the pandemic. Dr Gardner and Ms Harris partially succeeded in claims against Mr Hancock and Public Health England. The women claimed key policies of discharging patients from hospitals into care homes were implemented with no testing and no suitable isolation arrangements in the homes. A barrister representing Dr Gardner and Ms Harris told the court at a hearing in March that more than 20,000 elderly or disabled care home residents died from Covid between March and June 2020 in England and Wales. Jason Coppel QC also said in a written case outline for the judicial review that the care home population was known to be "uniquely vulnerable" to Covid. "The government's failure to protect it, and positive steps taken by the government which introduced Covid-19 infection into care homes, represent one of the most egregious and devastating policy failures in the modern era," he added. Read full story Source: BBC News, 27 April 2022
