Infection prevention and control
Infection prevention and control is vital to the wellbeing of people who need care and support and is even more crucial during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In order to receive safe and effective care, infection prevention and control must be part of everyday practice and be applied consistently by everyone.
While the success of the vaccine programme shows us the way out of this pandemic, that journey has only just begun. That’s why the mantra of infection protection control – including handwashing, cleaning, correct use of full personal protective equipment (PPE) and regular testing of all staff who have access to testing, including in care homes and domiciliary care - must remain our first priority, even after we’ve received our first dose of the vaccine.
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Prof Deborah Sturdy OBE, Chief Nurse for Adult Social Care
Standard infection prevention control precautions include:
- good hygiene (hands and respiratory)
- personal protective equipment (PPE)
- environment: cleaning, disposal of waste
- staying safe – social distancing, testing, self-isolating.
Useful resources
DHSC: Every Action Counts
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has adapted the 'Every Action Counts' suite of resources to support adult social care providers achieve excellence in infection prevention and control. The resources include posters, digital key cards and hints and tips, supporting compliance and awareness, leadership, morale and wellbeing, training and operational interventions.
The Every Action Counts toolkit has been developed to support adult social care providers to use the resources effectively.
'Every Action Counts' resources:
You can download the video above from GoogleDrive.
IPC Good Practice Guide
The ‘IPC Good Practice Guide’ guide, written by Professor Deborah Sturdy, the Chief Nurse for Adult Social Care, includes good practice examples of infection prevention control for care home and domiciliary care workers, and for infection control teams.
Download the IPC Good Practice Guide
Guide: Prevent infection quick guide
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) have produced a useful quick guide called Helping to prevent Infection.
Inducting new staff
Standard 15 of the Care Certificate, the standards for new staff in health and social care roles, focuses on infection, prevention and control. We have practical resources and workbooks to help you to implement the Care Certificate as part of induction.
Find out more about the Care Certificate.
Finding a learning provider
If you’re looking for a learning provider to support you in this area, take a look at our online directory which features our endorsed providers – those who we recognise as delivering high quality learning and development to the social care sector.