Infection Control Policy

INFECTION CONTROL POLICY

1)  PURPOSE

Care is increasingly being delivered in a wide range of settings, from care homes, residential homes, community settings and hospitals. The control of Infection is an important and integral part of health and social care. Infection Control policies are in place in all care settings and Aberness Care has a duty to ensure all our staff have guidelines in place for the Control of Infection.

Infection control is the name given to a wide range of procedures and techniques intended to prevent the spread of infection. All people working within or receiving a service are at risk of spreading infection, especially if they come into contact with blood or bodily fluids such as urine, faeces, sputum etc. Such bodily fluids may contain infections that can spread if adequate precautions are not taken. Adherence to strict guidelines on infection control is of paramount importance in ensuring the safety of Service users, staff and Clients.

2)  SCOPE

This policy applies to all employees within Aberness Care. Line managers are responsible for the implementation of the policy by ensuring staff have sufficient training and knowledge to implement safe working practises. All staff are required to take individual responsibility to reduce the spread of infection by:

·  Abiding by Aberness Care Infection Control Policy and any training or instructions received

·  At all times, observe high standards of hygiene to protect themselves and their Service users from unnecessary spread of infection

·  All staff are personally accountable for their actions and responsible for ensuring that they comply with Infection Control policies within Aberness Recruitment and Client’s.

3)  AIM

The aim of this policy is to reduce the incidence of infection to Service users, staff and care establishments. Preventing the spread of infection will help reduce:

·  Staff and service user infections

·  Worsening of a Service user’s condition

·  Avoidable admissions to hospital

·  Spread of infections to other care establishments

·  Staff absence

·  Costly interventions

4)  TRAINING

In order to ensure, so far as is reasonable practicable, the prevention and control of infection, Aberness Care will give high priority to ensuring that the level of information which is provided to staff is appropriate to their roles and responsibilities of the post to which they are employed. Aberness Care is committed to make available resources to support the training requirements of all employees in the prevention and control of infection.

All staff are required to complete E-Learning on Infection control within first 3 months of employment and annually thereafter.

Line managers must ensure that all staff are aware of the contents of this policy and its implications for their practise, this is discussed at indication. Staff have supervisions every 3 months, which includes infection control. The training needs of all staff is identified as part of their annual appraisal.

5)  CYCLE OF INFECTION

There are six elements in the cycle of infection, and all six must be present before the transmission of infection can take place.

Element in the cycle of infection / Explanation / Common examples
1. Infectious Agent / When germs enter the body, they can cause illness / ·  Bacteria, virus, fungi, protozoa
2. Reservoir / Where germs normally live and multiply / ·  Humans
·  Contaminated food, water, toys, sports equipment
·  Insects, animals, soil
3. Portal of Exit / How germs leave the body / ·  Respiratory tract
·  Intestinal tract
·  Urinary/genitourinary tract
·  Open wounds
·  Blood and body fluids
4. Transmission / How germs are spread
/ ·  Direct physical contact
·  Respiratory droplet
·  Stool (faecal-oral route)
·  Contact with blood/body fluids
·  Indirect contact
·  Needle stick injury
·  Ingestion of contaminated food and water
·  Contaminated dust particles
·  Contaminated objects
·  Insects/animals
5. Portal of Entry / How germs enter the body / ·  Respiratory tract
·  Intestinal tract
·  Urinary/genitourinary tract
·  Open wounds
·  Mucus membrane, e.g. eye, mouth
6. Susceptible Host / A person who gets an infection because he/she is unable to successfully fight the infection / ·  Infants, elderly and debilitated.
·  Persons who are ill.
·  Children who are not fully immunized or have underdeveloped immune systems.
·  Persons taking certain drugs that lower their defences against germs.
·  Persons with underlying disease conditions that lower their defences against other germs.

Breaking the cycle of infection by targeting one or more links can halt the spread of infection. This usually involves:

·  Eradicating the source of infection through appropriate antimicrobial therapy

·  Preventing the method of spread through hand washing, hygiene, disposal of waste, decontamination of equipment

·  Protecting the individual at risk by immunisation

·  Preventing microbes from entering the body by wearing protective clothing, using aseptic technique, covering wounds etc.

It is impossible to identify everyone who is infectious. Some diseases are infectious before any signs develop e.g. chickenpox and some may not show signs and symptoms e.g. hepatitis B. Some people may be carriers without developing the infection e.g. salmonella or MRSA. For this reason it is important that everyone carries out infections control precautions at all times, regardless of whether infection is present or suspected.

6)  STANDARD INFECTION CONTROL PRECAUTIONS

Adherence to good practise in relation to infection prevention and control has been shown to reduce the risk of infection to service users and staff. Universal infection control precautions are designed to reduce the risk of cross infection from both recognised and unrecognised sources of infection and should be applied at all times by all care staff. These include the following:

·  Hand hygiene

·  Use of Personal Protective Equipment

·  Safe Handling and Disposal of Sharps

·  Disposal of Waste

·  Laundry

·  Aseptic Technique

·  Use and Care of Invasive Devices

·  Management of Inoculation Injuries

·  Pathology Specimens

7)  HAND HYGIENE

Hand hygiene is the most important method of preventing infection and cross infection. The purpose of hand hygiene is to remove or destroy any bacteria picked up on hands (transient bacteria). In some situations e.g. prior to invasive procedures, it is necessary to also reduce the numbers of bacteria that normally live on the skin (resident bacteria). This prevents the bacteria being transferred to other people, while at the same time protecting yourself. A good hand washing technique is more important that the kind of product you use.

Hand washing must be carried out using running water at a comfortable temperature. Clinical hand washbasins should be provided wherever clinical care is given. A clinical hand washbasin consist of lever operated mixer taps with no plug and no overflow. If mixer taps are not available, a thermal control should be added to the hot tap to provide warm running water.

Liquid soap should be used for hand washing. This should be provided in wall-mounted dispensers with disposable cartridges or disposable pump action bottles. Dispensers should be kept clean and replenished.

Alcohol hand rubs may also be used. They are particularly useful in situations where hand washing may not be convenient.

Hand creams may be used to help protect hands from soreness and supplied again as a pump-action container.

Disposable paper towels must also be available at all hand wash basins in clinical settings, including toilets and kitchens. Communal towels are not acceptable. Foot operated bins must be used for disposal of paper towels. Do not use hands to raise the lid.

Routine Hand Hygiene is to remove dirt and most transient micro-organisms found on the hands. Hands must be washed:

·  Before starting work and going home

·  After contact with body fluids e.g. assisting service users with personal hygiene

·  Before and after giving care

·  Before and after wound management

·  Before putting on and after removing personal protective equipment

·  After using the toilet, blowing your nose or covering a sneeze

·  Before eating and handling preparing food

·  After handling pets

·  After handling raw food

·  After handling refuse and clinical waste

·  When hands look or feel dirty

·  After cleaning activities

·  Before and after smoking

Before starting work, wash any broken or cut areas of exposed skin and cover with a waterproof dressing. Jewellery and wristwatches should be removed prior to work. Fingernails should be short, clean and free from nail polish, please refer to Dress Code Policy. The technique of hand hygiene is more important than the solution used:

I.  Remove hand and wrist jewellery and wristwatches and roll up sleeves, (please refer to Dress Code Policy as such items should not be worn at work). Wedding rings without stones may be left in place.

II.  Wet hands under warm running water

III.  Apply liquid soap

IV.  Rub this into all parts of the hands vigorously, without applying more water, using the 6-step technique (see table) for at least 10 – 15 seconds

V.  Rinse hands thoroughly under running water

VI.  Dry thoroughly using paper towels

If hands are clean, apply 5mls of alcohol rub/gel, rubbed into all parts of hands using the 6-step technique, until the alcohol has evaporated. Washing hands with soap and water is always recommended because alcohol is less effective on micro-organisms such as Clostridium Difficile and viral causes of gastroenteritis.

8)  PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT

A selection of personal protective equipment (PPE) should be based on an assessment of the risk of transmission of micro-organisms to the service user and the risk of contamination of a member of staff’s clothing and skin by the service user’s bodily fluids, secretions or excretions.

Disposable gloves and aprons protect the staff and the service user from cross-infection. The selection of the appropriate materials should be subject to careful assessment of the task to be carried out and its related risk to the resident and the staff. For example there is an increase in the amount of people allergic to latex, so latex gloves are no longer appropriate for use in care establishments. Vinyl gloves or nitrite gloves are more suitable.

DISPOSABLE GLOVES - Gloves reduce the risk of contamination but do not eliminate it, therefore gloves are not a substitute for hand hygiene.

Disposable gloves are required when contact with blood or bodily fluids or non-intact skin in anticipated.

They should be single use and well-fitting.

Gloves should be discarded after each care activity for which they are worn and before contact with other items such as door handles, telephones, pens etc. This will prevent the transmission of micro-organisms to other sites and other service users.

It is never acceptable to wash gloves rather than change them.

Hands should always be decontaminated following removal of gloves as the integrity of gloves is not guaranteed and hands may become contaminated during their removal.

DISPOSABLE PLASTIC APRONS – Aprons should be worn by care staff when there is a risk of clothing being contaminated with blood and other bodily fluids, or when a service user has a known infection.

A disposable plastic apron should be worn during direct care, bed making or when undertaking the decontamination of equipment.

The apron is a single use item used for one procedure or episode of care and then discarded as clinical waste on completion of the task.

Aprons should be stored so that they do not accumulate dust that may act as a reservoir for micro-organisms.

FACE MASKS AND EYE PROTECTION – These should only be used when caring for service users on the advice of the infection prevention and control personnel and may be required if there is a risk of blood and bodily fluid splash into the eyes, nose and mouth.

UNIFORM – Uniforms do not constitute protective equipment. A clean uniform should be worn for each shift. Uniforms have short sleeves. During the working day uniforms will become contaminated with micro-organisms. Disposable aprons will protect the uniform from gross contamination only. Uniform should be able to withstand a wash temperature of 60°C. Staff should change into normal clothing at the end of the working day. If wearing uniform to and from work is unavoidable, cover uniform with an outer layer. If working in an establishment where staff wear their own clothes, similar hygiene measures should be employed.

9)  SAFE HANDLING AND DISPOSAL OF SHARPS

Sharps are medical devices like needles, scalpels, and other tools that cut or go into the skin. Learning how to safely handle sharps is important to prevent accidental needle stick injuries and cuts.

Before you use a sharp object, such as a needle or scalpel, make sure you have all the items you need close by. This includes items like alcohol swabs, gauze, and bandages.

Also, know where the sharps disposal container is. Check to make sure there is enough room in the container for your object to fit. It should not be more than 2/3 full.

Some needles have a protective device, such as a needle shield, sheath, or blunting, that you activate after you remove the needle from the patient. This allows you to handle the needle safely, without the risk of exposing yourself to blood or body fluids. If you are using this kind of needle, make sure you know how it works before you use it.

Follow these guidelines when you work with sharps.

·  Do not uncover or unwrap the sharp object until it is time to use it.

·  Keep the object pointed away from you and other persons at all times.

·  Never recap or bend a sharp object.

·  Keep your fingers away from the tip of the object.

·  If the object is reusable, put it in a secure, closed container after you use it.

·  Never hand a sharp object to someone else or put it on a tray for another person to pick up.

·  Tell the people you are working with when you plan to set the object down or pick it up.

Make sure the disposal container is made for disposing of sharp objects. Replace containers when they are 2/3 full.

Other important tips include:

·  Never put your fingers into the sharps container.

·  If the needle has tubing attached to it, hold the needle and the tubing when you put it in the sharps container.