Infection Protection and Control

Bourn Surgery aims to keep the surgery clean and tidy in order to offer a safe environment for all staff, patients and visitors.

If you have any concerns about cleanliness or infection control, please report these to our Reception staff. Our GP and Nursing team follow procedures to ensure that treatment of our patients and clinical equipment used meet infection control guidance.

Purpose

This annual statement will be generated each year. It will summarise:

• Any infection transmission incidents and action taken (these will be reported in accordance with our Significant Event Procedure)  
• The latest infection control audit and actions undertaken
• Control risk assessments undertaken
• Details of staff training
• Any review and update of policies, procedures and guidelines

Background

The Bourn Surgery Lead for Infection Prevention and Control is Nurse Lead Isabel Gomes, supported by Dr Vanessa Lockyer.

Significant Events and Complaints

The Practice has regular meetings whereby any significant or critical events and complaints are discussed.

In the past year there have been no Significant Event raised that related to infection control.  In the last year there have been no complaints related to infection control
Audits

A full audit is undertaken every 2 years  by the IPC lead Nurse. All areas of the Surgery are audited and action plans for improvements are produced.  

Policies, Procedures and Guidelines

All Infection Prevention Control related policies are in date and have been reviewed.

Policies relating to Infection Control are available to all staff and are reviewed and updated regularly, and all are amended on an on-going basis as current advice, guidance and legislation changes.  Infection Control policies are available on TeamNet for all staff to read.

Risk Assessment

Regular risk assessments are undertaken to minimise the risk of infection and ensure the safety of patients and staff.

Cleaning Specifications, Frequencies and Cleanliness of Equipment

The Practice has an environmental hygiene policy for staff to follow. The policy specifies how to clean all areas, fixtures and fittings, and what products to use. Cleaning schedules and audits are reviewed and updated regularly. Nursing staff clean treatment areas and equipment between patients. Personal Protective Equipment policies are in place.

All the cleaning for our surgery is carried out by an external cleaning company (Clean Slate) who work to CQC Standards, their cleaning schedules and audits are reviewed and updated regularly.

Staff Training

In addition to staff being involved in risk assessments and significant events, all staff receive IPC induction training on commencing their post. Thereafter, all staff receive refresher training annually. All staff are aware of the Practice hand washing policy and instructions for hand washing are displayed in all clinical rooms.   All members of staff have hand washing training.

Patients

We attempt to inform our patients about any infection issues, eg. flu season, on notice boards at the surgery and on our Practice website.

Patients who are thought to have an infection that may be contagious may be offered a phone call instead of a face to face consultation or asked to wait in a designated area.