C.diff, norovirus and lack of single rooms identified as key concerns for infection control
Hand hygiene compliance and staff engagement also highlighted
Clostridium difficile and norovirus appear to be the main causes of concern for infection control professionals as we enter the winter months, according to a new survey.
Conducted at Infection Prevention 2013, held in London, 48% of respondents highlighted C. difficile as the primary cause of concern, with 36% highlighting norovirus.
Carried out by Bioquell, a UK provider of infection control solutions to the healthcare industry, the survey asked 170 infection control nurses and senior practitioners to rank various pathogens in order of priority and also to indicate any others that might be of concern.
The findings revealed that CPE (carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae) was becoming a major concern (19%). Additionally, Acinetobacter (2%), MRSA (4%) and VRE (4%) were of further potential concern.
Looking at what would make the biggest impact on infection control and management at hospitals, more single rooms was the clear leading choice (44% of the respondents). This was followed by a need for more infection control nurses (26%).
The survey also highlighted that many infection control professionals would like to have more engagement from hospitals (16% stating this as a primary requirement with 46% placing it in the top three rankings).
The need for better training and more staff engagement were also raised as key concerns.
Commenting on the survey, Martin Whiting, Director of Marketing at Bioquell, said: 'We have already started to see outbreaks of norovirus in some parts of the UK and we are all highly aware of the government targets for C. difficile cases that are leading to large fines at various NHS Trusts. So, not surprisingly, both of these were among the key concerns raised by our customers at this year’s IPS-organised event.
'Interestingly, the survey highlighted the chronic shortage of single rooms in UK hospitals for dealing with pathogen outbreaks. Hand hygiene compliance and staff engagement were also identified as core areas of concern. These are exactly what our new solution, the Bioquell ICE-pod system, has been designed to address.'
The Bioquell ICE-pod, demonstrated during the show, is a semi-permanent installation that can be erected around a bed space to provide many of the benefits of a single room (for example, a sense of patient privacy and a barrier to infection transmission) while continuing to provide ward staff with excellent visibility and access to the patient.
Having to enter each ICE-pod through a doorway with alcohol dispensers and gloves readily available, hand hygiene compliance has also been observed to increase at many of the NHS hospitals where the pods have been installed.
