Recognising infection control excellence

 The Clinical Services Journal provides an insight into the initiatives implemented by the team, which led to a 52% reduction in MRSA bacteraemias and 27% reduction in Clostridium difficile infections.

 The Heart of England Foundation Trust (HEFT) is one of the largest foundation Trusts in England, with 1,500 beds across four sites (Heartlands Hospital, Solihull Hospital, Good Hope Hospital and the Birmingham Chest Clinic) and employing approximately 10,000 staff. In April 2007, HEFT merged with Good Hope Hospital NHS Trust. This required the full and successful integration of infection prevention and control teams (IPCT), with early adoption of joint infection control policies. The integrated IPCT team is led by a consultant medical microbiologist who is also the director of infection prevention and control. The team now works jointly across all hospital sites and comprises: a new, permanent lead infection prevention and control nurse; 13 additional nursing staff, responsible for IPC training, audit, surveillance and advice; and six non-clinical staff, including an infection control programme manager, to provide oversight of the successful delivery of the work programme, and a full-time information analyst, to support the performance reporting and mandatory data return requirements of the Trust and to analyse surveillance data. The team works closely with a clinical scientist, and there is a strong research record within the microbiology and infection control departments. The Trust considers infection prevention and control to be central to all Trust activity. The chief executive chairs the infection control committee and meets with the director of infection prevention and control (DIPC) on a monthly basis. The DIPC also attends monthly board meetings to provide detailed updates on infection prevention matters. Following the merger, subsequent failure to achieve sustained reductions in infections at all hospital sites led to the formulation of a new Trust-wide action plan.

Trust-wide initiatives in 2008