Learning from COVID-19 and AMR

The COVID-19 pandemic elevated infection prevention and control (IP&C) to the top of the political agenda and heightened awareness of the importance of hand hygiene, appropriate PPE use in health and care settings, as well as the risks posed by airborne transmission of pathogens. It also highlighted the importance of tackling infection in a coordinated way across health and care settings, as well as shining a light on the role of the public and communities in helping to reduce infection transmission. 

In 2020 NHSE/I rolled out its vision of the NHS Long Term Plan for Infection Prevention and Control, with strong themes around antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and Gram-Negative bloodstream infections. While the attention of IP&C teams was diverted to managing the COVID crisis, the threat posed by AMR – along with a whole host of healthcare-associated pathogens – remains ever-present.

The Infection Prevention and Control Conference will review the lessons learned from the pandemic, while refocusing attention on these continuing threats and challenges. Themes for this national meeting will include outbreak management, improving hand hygiene (and auditing procedures), and decontamination/cleaning protocols. From the pandemic, we learnt a great deal about preventing airborne transmission of infection. There will still be a strong focus on AMR, as well as focusing on GNBSI and the common causes such as UTIs, however.