Within this assignment I will explain the role of organisational procedures in the prevention and control of infection within a health and social care setting.
Within this assignment I will explain the role of organizational procedures in the
prevention and control of infection within a health and social care setting.
Policies and procedures are used within care homes to ensure that infection is kept
to a minimum; due to the elderly having a weak immune system it means that they
are more susceptible to infection than a young healthy individual “some of the
highest-risk older adults are in nursing homes.”(http://www.healio.com/infectious-
disease/news/print/infectious-disease-news/%7Ba029cda7-ca04-4b1e-98ae-
677d27670ceb%7D/comorbidities-metabolic-changes-make-elderly-more-
susceptible-to-infection accessed 14/11/2014) For this reason infections that are
acquired in a home are considered as very dangerous they can even be life
threatening, and can worsen any underlying medical conditions therefore affecting
recovery time.
Care workers must be observant and know the signs of infection so that they can
recognise the symptoms in a resident and act appropriately to encourage them to
become well again. There are a number of micro organisms that are resistant to
antibiotics e.g. MRSA if these find their way into a nursing home residents, staff and
visitors may become worried that they or their relatives or friends might catch it.
Another reason why policies and procedures exist is because the RQIA demand that
every health and social care setting have them, meaning that they are law and it
would be illegal not to have a folder of policies and procedures.
There are many roles of the procedures within a health and social care setting the
first one is to comply with legislation and guidelines. If policies and procedures where
not present in a health care setting it would mean that the organization would not
have a structure to prevent them from breaking the law, in other words policies and
procedures support legislation and guidelines. There is one main piece of legislation
that I am specifically relating to this which is the Health and safety at work
Regulations 1992. Within this act it states that employers have to ensure the health
and safety of all employees as best as possible. This can be done by carrying out
risk assessments (the likelihood of illness being contracted due to various activities)
and providing Personal Protective Equipment i.e. disposable gloves and aprons,
goggles, and hair nets. It is the employee’s duty to use the provided items to reduce
the risk of spreading and contracting infection, therefore the employee also has the
duty of looking after his/ her own health as well as others.
A second role consists of preventing the spread of antibiotic resistant illnesses such
as MRSA. MRSA is an infection that is transmitted by direct and indirect contact this
is why the correct hand washing procedures are so important in health and social
care settings it also explains why you must wash your hands before and after visiting
each patient even if you do not make contact with them, this is also a explanation of
why PPE must be worn.
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