Developing draft national infection prevention and control standards for community services

Описание: HIQA has launched a public consultation on the Draft national infection prevention and control standards for community services.
View the consultation here https://www.hiqa.ie/reports-and-publi...

This consultation aims to gather the views of people who use health and social care services in the community and staff and others working in these services. This feedback will be considered and will inform the development of the final National Standards.

The public consultation will run until 5pm 14 March 2018. Unfortunately, it will not be possible to accept late submissions.

Healthcare-associated infections can have a huge impact on people, causing upset and anxiety, serious illness, long-term disability and death. There are also significant consequences for community services due to additional consultations, investigations and unscheduled care due to outbreaks of infection. However, a significant proportion of healthcare-associated infection is known to be avoidable if measures are taken to identify and address the work practices, equipment and environmental risks that have the potential to cause such harm. These measures are collectively referred to as infection prevention and control and describe the practice of providing safe care in a clean environment. The basic principles of infection prevention and control apply regardless of the health and social care setting.

In addition, antimicrobial resistance presents a serious global public health threat. Antimicrobial resistance occurs when a micro-organism develops resistance to an antimicrobial medication that had been originally effective for treating infections caused by it. Preventing infections from occurring in the first instance is one of the best ways to reduce the need to prescribe antimicrobial medication and prevent antimicrobial resistance.