Healthcare Associated Infections

Introduction

HCAIHealthcare-associated infections (HCAIs) can occur as a result of contact with the healthcare system in its widest sense - from care provided in your own home, to general practice, nursing home care and care in acute hospitals.
 
Organisms find opportunities to cause infection at the sites of wounds and in weakened patients fighting other diseases. In a modern health service you might think infections would disappear. However the increasing numbers of invasive treatments and powerful drugs now available to us not only improve survival rates for many patients but can also carry an increased risk of associated infections.
 
The Welsh Assembly Government is committed to reducing Healthcare Associated Infections (HCAIs) across all healthcare environments through effective infection prevention and control programmes.
 
 

Policy Context

The strategic approach in Wales is one of aiming to reduce all HCAIs and not to focus on individual organisms such as MRSA or C.Difficile. You can find more information in the documents below:

What are we doing about HCAIs?

NHS organisations have been charged with developing annual local disease reduction targets and registering them with the Welsh Assembly Government's Regional NHS Offices. It is against these targets that their performance is measured.
In addition, a number of all Wales mandatory surveillance schemes exist and participation in these enable Health Boards to identify local issues and to target their programmes effectively.
 
The Local Health Boards submit their data to the Welsh Healthcare Associated Infection Programme (WHAIP) team which is part of Public Health Wales. WHAIP then collates all data, performs statistical analysis and publishes infection surveillance reports. The surveillance reports provide the opportunity to assess the quality and effectiveness of measures put in place to control the incidences of HCAIs in Wales and to monitor improvements.

 

Initiatives

The 1000 Lives Campaign aims to improve patient safety and increase healthcare quality across Wales. Included in the Campaign are several evidence-based content areas including an area for Reducing Healthcare Associated Infections. 

The Clean your hands campaign was developed by the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) to help the NHS in England and Wales to reduce healthcare associated infection (HCAI).

Resources

Publications

The Chief Medical Officer's letters below announce infection control model policies for Wales

The Welsh Assembly Government's Hospital Acquired Infections leaflet gives practical advice on how you and your family can help yourselves reduce the chance of picking up an infection during a stay in hospital.

The NICE clinical guideline on infection control provides a set of measures to avoid infection that should be followed by anyone giving or receiving care at home, at a health centre or clinic, or elsewhere in the community.


NHS Evidence allows everyone working in health and social care to access a wide range of health information to help them deliver quality patient care.

Infection Control Video on hand washing.

Hand hygiene compliance is considered to be a major factor in breaking the chain of infection.



Reducing Health Care Associated Infections

 

Statistics 

The Office for National Statistics  (ONS) presents mortality rates and details on the number of deaths involving Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) and Meticillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) for England and Wales.