Provide guidance, resources and support to enable staff to minimise the risk of spreading infection
Overview
This standard concerns providing guidance and support, including ensuring that appropriate training is provided to all health and social care staff, to enable them to minimise the risk of acquiring and spreading infection.
It applies to those working in all health and social care environments, including domiciliary and community care and ambulance care settings.
The standard should be used alongside relevant legislation, guidelines, policies, procedures and protocols.
Users of this standard will need to ensure that practice reflects up to date information and policies.
Performance criteria
You must be able to:
- access infection prevention and control policies, guidelines and standard operating procedures for your area of responsibility that are in line with local and national policies/procedures
- work safely at all times and in accordance with all relevant legislation, guidelines, policies, procedures and protocols
- deal promptly and effectively with any problems within your control and report those which cannot be solved
- identify and minimise hazards and risk in the workplace
- clearly communicate the policies and guidelines and ensure they are easily accessible
- arrange for induction training and further updates to ensure staff have the knowledge and skills to apply infection prevention and control policies/procedures and guidelines
- ensure that infection prevention and control is an integral part of all staff personal objectives and clearly portrayed as everyone's responsibility
- protect staff by ensuring they have access to resources to enable them to minimise the risks of infection while carrying out their jobs
- provide instruction for staff on procedures following a sharps injury or body fluid splash incident
- monitor, audit and provide feedback on staff practices in relation to infection prevention and control
- monitor the resources, equipment and those aspects of the environment that affect practices in relation to infection prevention and control
- monitor occupational immunisation of staff and the quality of provision
- where problems or adverse events are observed or reported, investigate the causes and, where appropriate, initiate prompt remedial action and communicate findings to the appropriate person(s)
- escalate concerns in accordance with investigation outcomes
- analyse trends of all reported adverse events and occurrences of infection to identify recurrent problems and initiate action to address them
- complete and store all relevant documentation in accordance with organisational requirements
Knowledge and Understanding
You need to know and understand:
1. the current legislation, guidelines, policies, procedures and protocols which are relevant to your work practice and to which you must adhere
2. the scope and limitations of your own competence, responsibilities and accountability as it applies to your job role
3. how to access and interpret all relevant work instructions and information
4. specific procedures for reporting issues which are beyond your competence, responsibilities and accountability
5. the duty to report any acts or omissions that could be unsafe/detrimental to you or others
6. the hazards and risks which may arise during the execution of your work role and how you can minimise these
7. how to adapt communication styles
8. the correct use of any equipment and PPE to protect the health and safety of you and others
9. relevant standard infection prevention and control precautions, national legislation/guidance and local policies/procedures
10. the chain of infection
11. hierarchy of controls
12. the key moments of hand hygiene
13. how approaches in clinical and social environments may differ
14. the principles of isolation and the placement of individuals
15. immunisations that can protect against vaccine preventable infections and the means of referring staff for occupational health advice
16. appropriate facilities and processes for hand hygiene
17. effective techniques for maintaining hand hygiene
18. appropriate facilities for first aid provision
19. the personal protective equipment staff need
20. how to ensure risks of infection are expertly assessed in your area of activity
21. modes of transmission infection
22. principles of antimicrobial resistance
23. improvement methodologies in relation to infection prevention and control
24. risk assessment in relation to infection prevention and control
25. how to escalate concerns and how/where to seek authoritative advice
26. how to secure induction training and further updates for your staff
27. the importance of having adequate resources available to staff and how to acquire them to enable staff to apply the agreed infection prevention and control policies/procedures and guidelines
28. how to monitor staff practices and to take action to maintain the required standards
29. accident and incident reporting and the mechanisms to ensure action is taken to improve standards
30. the processes to monitor the occurrence of infection relevant to the roles of staff
31. how, when and to whom to report issues that are within and outside your scope of practice
32. organisational management structures, roles, and responsibilities
33. the procedures and methods relating to the coordination of inter-disciplinary and multi-disciplinary teams within and across services
34. principles of monitoring the resources, equipment and those aspects of the environment that affect practices in relation to infection prevention and control including the occupational immunisation of staff and the quality of provision
35. the actions to take when problems or adverse events are observed or reported including:
- investigate the causes
- initiate prompt remedial action
- communicate findings to relevant others
36. how and when to escalate concerns in accordance with investigation outcomes
37. how to analyse and understand trends of all reported adverse events and occurrences of infection to identify recurrent problems and initiate action to address them
38. how and when to report any issues
39. how to dispose of waste in accordance with organisational procedures
40. how to complete and store all relevant documentation in accordance with organisational requirements