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assess how the procedures mentioned within my previous task to manage an outbreak of infection meet the legal requirements and guidelines for the prevention and control of infection (norovirus) within a hospital setting.
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Course
Unit 9 - Infection Prevention and Control
Institution
PEARSON (PEARSON)
Within this task I am going to assess how the procedures mentioned within my previous task to manage an outbreak of infection meet the legal requirements and guidelines for the prevention and control of infection (norovirus) within a hospital setting.
Megan Gordon
Infection prevention and control – D1
Kate Pegrem
Within this task I am going to assess how the procedures mentioned within my
previous task to manage an outbreak of infection meet the legal requirements and
guidelines for the prevention and control of infection (norovirus) within a hospital
setting.
Whenever an outbreak of infection is confirmed within a hospital there are various
procedures that must be adhered to in order to reduce the risk of the infection (in this
case norovirus) spreading further. The department of health and the World Health
Organization are responsible for carrying out visits to health and social care settings
ensuring that they are dealing with outbreaks safely and correctly. The department of
health issued health and social care codes of practice that staff must abide by,
ensuring the safety of them and the service users. These policies in place also meet
the legal requirements of legislation.
The first procedure consists of; laminated signage should be placed on the front door
of the building and on the doors of infected areas so that visitors are informed of the
outbreak and know not to enter. Visitors should be restricted to essential staff only.
This procedure meets the legal requirements as it supports The Public Health
(Control of Diseases) Act (1984). This law states that if there is an outbreak of
infection isolation procedures must be followed to reduce the severity of the
spreading, thus demonstrating an effective precaution on how to control and
outbreak. This procedure is clearly reducing the risk of infection spreading, by
reducing staff to a minimum and not letting anyone else in, therefore they cannot
contract the illness and pass it on. The Health Protection Agency Act (2004)
additionally comes in here as it puts forward ideas on how to prevent outbreaks
occurring by providing information to the staff, clients and the general public. This
piece of law ensures that regular meetings are held to discuss new methods to
reduce transmission and outbreaks of infection within health and social care settings.
The second procedure consists of informing all staff that there has been an outbreak
of infection and the way that it is contracted (airborne, skin contact), so that they
become aware of and be more cautious when dealing with infected individuals.
Certain staff should be allocated to certain areas and should be informed of weather
they are in an infected or unaffected area. This procedure supports the Public Health
(Infectious Diseases) Regulations (1988), as health care workers must be aware of
who is infected and who is not. Moreover all infectious diseases that are recognized
by the piece of legislation are notifiable meaning that any outbreak should be
reported to the authorities as soon as possible. Additionally the policy mentions that
any member of staff that develops any of the symptoms of the illness must stop work
and go home immediately. This aids in the reduction of transmission to the
uninfected individuals, therefore showing how this piece of legislation supports the
policy within the hospital.
The third policy within a hospital used to prevent and control infection is the use of
PPE (Personal Protective Equipment). It is an essential requirement that all
employers supply staff with effective personal protective equipment, especially within
a health and social care setting where there is a greater risk of outbreaks and
transmission of infection. Personal Protective Equipment consists of disposable
1
, Megan Gordon
Infection prevention and control – D1
Kate Pegrem
gloves, disposable aprons, face masks, hair nets etc. Therefore the use of PPE is
meeting the Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992, ensuring that
health care staff do not come into contact with harmful/ dangerous substances
(Blood, urine, MRSA and other infections). This secures the staffs own safety
preventing them from contracting infection from the patients, it additionally secures
the safety of the other individuals/ patients that they will be communicating with and/
or be treating (close contact). The Public Health and (Control of Disease) act (1984)
is additionally supported by the policy on PPE due to the fact that infected equipment
must be dealt with correctly. Infected equipment may include PPE meaning that is
must be used and disposed of without causing any additional transmission of the
illness. Thirdly the NICE (National Institute for Clinical Excellence) Guideline 2 (June
2003) also relates to this policy on PPE as it ensures health care workers are
informed on the correct precautions and procedures when dealing with individuals
within their job. This is implying that staff should know exactly how to use PPE
correctly as they have been trained and therefore there should be no exceptions for
anyone that is not using it effectively.
Following this is the policy on correct and effective hand washing. “Hand hygiene is
now regarded as one of the most important elements of infection control activities.”
(http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3249958/ accessed 15/04/2015)
There are seven stages that should be followed accurately using antibacterial soap:
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bella.com/tag/hand-washing/ accessed 13/03/2015)
Firstly hand hygiene has to be up to the standards of The NICE (National Institute for
Clinical Excellence) Guideline 2 (June 2003), The Public Health (infectious diseases)
regulation (1988) and The Public Health (Control of Diseases) Act (1984). Firstly the
NISCE guidelines informs individuals on infection control, hand washing being part of
this. The information given is mainly in the form of leaflets, these educate the health
care staff, general public and clients on effective hand washing meaning that there
are no excuses for infection being contracted via bad personal hygiene. The Public
Health (infectious diseases) Regulation (1988) monitors certain areas within
hospitals to ensure infection transmission is maintained or reduced. They may be
focused on the certain area of hand washing for some while, when this is up to
standards then they will move to another aspect of infection control. Finally the
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