Infection service

The infection service

Everyone at Heatherwood and Wexham Park Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is a firm believer that the prevention and control of hospital acquired infections is the responsibility of us all.

The Trust is committed to keeping infection to a minimum and consistently takes action to ensure that our infection rates remain low.

The infection control team is made up of a dedicated consultant microbiologist clinical lead, a specialist lead nurse, three specialist nurses, two infection control data analysts and the infection control pharmacist all working closely with the microbiology department and hygiene and cleanliness service. It also incorporates the Outpatient Home Parenteral Anti-Infective Therapy Service (OHPAT).

The service has an annual plan that aims to comply with the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and meet the Care Quality Commission Essential Standards of Quality and Safety and our mandatory surveillance and reporting requirements.

Our day to day activity includes:

• Hand hygiene education and audit
• Meticillin Resistant Staphyloccus aureus (MRSA) screening and surveillance
• Clostridium difficile (C.diff) surveillance
• Anti microbial stewardship
• Root cause analysis for MRSA and Meticillin Sensitive Staphyloccus aureus (MSSA) blood stream infection and C.diff infection
• Intravenous therapy monitoring and education
• Environmental audit
• Clinical advice and education
• Policy development and planning for future infection prevention and control

Our aim is the prevention, management and control of infection thereby improving the safety and quality of care delivered to our patients.