Infection Prevention & Control (IPC) – Annual Statement Report (November 2024)

Infection Prevention & Control (IPC)  – Annual Statement Report (November 2024)

Battersea Fields Practice is committed to providing effective infection, prevention and control procedures to minimise the risk of infection to patients, visitors and staff. Battersea Fields Practice regularly audits the premises and equipment to ensure that proper standards of hygiene and cleanliness are being met.

Purpose

This annual statement will be generated each year in April in accordance with The Health and Social Care Act 2008: code of practice on the prevention and control of infection and related guidance and details the practice’s compliance with guidelines on infection control and cleanliness. This statement should be made available for anyone who wishes to see it, including patients and regulatory authorities. The report will be published on the practice website and will summarise:

  1. Infection transmission incidents and any action taken (these are reported in accordance with our significant event procedure)
  2. IPC audits undertaken and subsequent actions implemented
  3. Risk assessments undertaken and any actions taken for prevention and control of infection
  4. Staff training
  5. Review and update of IPC policies, procedures and guidelines
  6. Antimicrobial prescribing and stewardship

The IPC Lead is Louise Greig and the IPC Deputy is Emily Bradshaw. They are supported by Karim Marotana (Deputy Practice Manager) and Isata Fullah (Business and Development Manager). All staff at Battersea Fields Practice help to support the IPC lead in maintaining high standards of infection prevention and cleanliness.

 

  1. Infection transmission incidents:
    • Since April 2024, there have been no significant events raised that related to infection control or any complaints made regarding cleanliness or infection control.
    • All IPC incidents are reported to the IPC Lead and/or the Management Team. All staff are aware that any incidents should be recorded as a “significant event”. These are reviewed and discussed at the monthly significant event meeting to establish what can be learnt and to identify actions to to minimise risk and lead to future improvements.
  1. IPC Audits undertaken:

External IPC Audit:

  • The last external audit was carried out by NHS England – London Public Health Infection Control Team at the Austin Road Site on 20th November 2023 receiving a score of 96.9% compliance, and at the Thessaly Road Site on 12th December 2023 receiving a score of 99.2% compliance.
  • The Care Quality Commission (CQC) carried out a monitoring call on 10th August 2023 which was followed up by a full inspection and audit from 17th October 2023 to 19th October 2023. We received a rating of “Good” in all domains including infection prevention control.

Internal IPC Audits

  • Annual Infection Control Audit (Austin Road and Thessaly Road) completed on 1st April 2024. Next due April 2025.
  • National Standards of Healthcare Cleanliness Cleaning Audit score sheet – In PROGRESS
  • National Standards of Healthcare Cleanliness Efficacy Checklist – IN PROGRESS
  • Hand hygiene compliance completed monthly
  • PPE compliance completed monthly – IN PROGRESS
  • Aseptic Technique compliance completed annually – IN PROGRESS
  1. Risk assessments undertaken and any actions taken for prevention and control of infection
  • Regular risk assessments are carried out so that any infection control risk is identified and minimised to as low as reasonably practicable.
  • Annually                 Annual infection control audit (Austin Road and Thessaly Road)
  • Annually IPC Annual statement
  • Annually Review of infection control policy
  • 3 monthly                 Audit of reception, waiting area and patient toilets
  • Bi-monthly Audit clinical rooms
  • 3 Monthly                 Audit of the cleanliness of the building
  • Monthly Legionella testing
  • Monthly PPE Audit
  • Monthly Hand hygiene Audit
  • Annually Sharps risk assessment
  • Annually Blood borne viruses risk assessment
  • Annually Hand Washing presentation delivered at whole team meeting
  • Ongoing Staff Immunisations (hepatitis B, MMR, tetanus)
  • Ongoing Infection control training and updates for all staff monitored
  • Annually COSHH risk assessment

 

  • Findings from the above audits and risk assessments are documented on Teamnet and actions required to improve IPC are implanted if reasonably practical to do so.
  • Areas identified during audits:
    • Ensure all chairs in clinical areas are wipe-able
    • Latex free gloves readily available for all clinicians
    • Appropriate sharps bins in all clinical rooms
    • Ensure couch roll is stored off the floor
    • Ensure curtains in clinical rooms are changed as required

 

  1. Staff Training:
  • All staff as part of their induction are required to complete IPC training via Practice Index. This is completed on induction and updated every year for clinical staff (tier 2) and every 2 years for non-clinical staff (tier 1). The management team monitors staff training is up to date.

 

  1. Review and update of IPC policies, procedures and guidelines
  • Details of the relevant external organisations and individuals relating to IPC are kept up-to-date in our IPC Policy which is reviewed annually.

 

  1. Antimicrobial prescribing and stewardship
  • Managing Partner Dr Jenni Ellingham leads on antimicrobial stewardship and is responsible for advising clinicians and liaising with the pharmacy team to reduce the risks of inadequate, inappropriate, and adverse effects of antimicrobial treatment.

Policies relating to IPC are available to all staff via Teamnet and in Shared Files. They are reviewed and updated as per current advice, guidance, and legislation changes.

Review

The IPC lead Louise Greig and the Managing Partner (Dr Jenni Ellingham) are responsible for reviewing and producing the annual statement. This annual statement will be updated on 12.11.2025.

 

 

This statement has been drawn up by IPC Lead Louise Greig and signed by

MJEllingham

Dr Jenni Ellingham

Managing Partner

For and on behalf of Battersea Fields Practice