In the upcoming weeks, the IPS President’s Digest will continue featuring a series of ‘spotlights’ to showcase the outstanding work presented at IP2024 Birmingham. This week, we will feature a summary of a series of the poster talks presented at the conference.
In Their Hands: Patient-led Hand Hygiene auditing utilising QR code data collection – David Arrowsmith (IPC Matron), The Royal Brompton & Harefield Hospitals (Guy’s & Thomas’s NHS Foundation trust).
This project aimed to introduce hand hygiene auditing to areas of the hospital that had struggled with conventional auditing e.g., research, outpatients, and lung Function clinics. The nature of these departments left them open to the Hawthorne Effect as staff and patient interaction was mostly one-on-one, so covert auditing was not possible.
The hospital had recently adopted an online auditing platform known as MEG which collected data via a smartphone-enabled app. I worked with the MEG team to create a QR code, a dashboard, and a data collection form (question set). The form would be very simple to test whether the engagement was there. It consisted of 3 basic questions related to hand hygiene e.g., did you see a member of staff decontaminate their hands during your visit? I then worked with the ward areas (with my team) to design patient information leaflets and QR code display posters. We also developed an Arabic language QR code for our private patient services at their request. To combat the issue of non-smartphone-enabled patients/visitors the departments pre-loaded the form onto a unit-owned tablet.
Engagement was slow at first but with regular check-ins from the IPC team the project gained momentum and over the course of a year over 200 responses were submitted. The collection form had a free text option so patients could feedback on any concerns they saw. The future aim is to roll the project out to all 5 sites within the Trust.
- To Enhance and Improve the Knowledge, Competence, and Confidence of the Infection Prevention and Control Link Practitioners (IPCLPs) in a Military Rehabilitation Hospital – Siobhan Davis (ARRC), Infection Prevention and Control Nursing Officer, (Army), Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre, Stanford Hall.
Aim – This QI project aims to implement an education programme for all Infection Prevention and Control Link Practitioners (IPCLP) at a military rehab hospital as a strategy to address the shortfalls and disempowerment of the IPCLPs and to improve the IPCLP’s knowledge, competence, and confidence.
Methods: Action research was utilised using an anonymous questionnaire first to ascertain current gaps in IPC knowledge competence and confidence, to set a baseline. Stakeholder (IPCLP) engagement collating and analysing answers, developing an action-effect diagram and initial PDSA cycles through the model for improvement implemented an IPCLP education programme.
Results: Post the first teaching session a further questionnaire showed the IPCLPs felt their knowledge, competence, and confidence were, as hypothesised increased after the teaching session, it has made a positive change.
Conclusion: The QI project accomplished the aim, of implementing an education initiative for the IPCLPs with the engagement of the IPCLPs themselves, to reduce the risk of HCAIs. The results from the pre-and post-questionnaires have proved the education initiative has improved the IPCLP’s knowledge and competence and therefore their confidence. This is echoed throughout the limited research there is on the subject however, it has been stated that there is indeed a need for training programmes for link nurses with a focus on improving IPC competency.
Efficacy of Chlorhexidine-Impregnated Gloves in Reducing Surgical Site Infections in Cardiac Surgery Patients: An Ongoing Clinical Trial – Gina Kealey (Cardiac Surgery Sister/SSI Surveillance Nurse), Royal Sussex County Hospital.
Surgical site infections (SSIs) significantly impact patient outcomes and healthcare costs in cardiac surgery. This study investigates the efficacy and acceptability of Chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG)-impregnated gloves as an intervention to reduce SSIs. The primary endpoint was the incidence rate of SSIs within 30 days post-surgery, while secondary endpoints included hospital stay duration, readmission rates, and patient satisfaction.
Utilising a prospective, single-group interventional design, the study involved two preoperative showers with liquid CHG and the application of CHG gloves before and after surgery. Data from the first two quarters of 2024 revealed an overall SSI rate of 5.73% among 192 patients, with no significant reduction compared to the previous quarter; however, readmission rates improved to 3.65%. Patient satisfaction with hygiene practices was high, averaging 4.8 out of 5. While initial results did not show a marked decrease in SSI rates, the potential benefits in managing readmissions highlight the need for further investigation into the cost-effectiveness and operational efficiencies of CHG-impregnated gloves in enhancing infection control strategies in cardiac surgery.
- Improving patient safety and reducing the risk of surgical site infection through standardisation of asepsis – Fiona Ward (National Lead – Infection Prevention and Control), Circle Health Group.
Surgical site infection occurs when microorganisms of sufficient number to cause an infection are introduced during an invasive procedure. Asepsis is a technique that reduces that risk to the patient but there are many ways to define aseptic technique. The quality improvement initiative aimed to embed aseptic non-touch technique (ANTT) as the definitive method of asepsis for all invasive procedures throughout the group to reduce surgical site infection risk and to evidence all sites were following policy and protocol by assessing against and achieving, gold standard ANTT patient protection accreditation group wide. Compilation of data started in April 2022 for audit compliance and August 2022 for competency and learning compliance. To evidence completion of competence as well as e-learning, the learning system was set so that staff could not access their certificate without all 3 criteria being complete, E-learning + policy + competency assessment, percentage increased from 85.10% to 94.4% over the reporting period. The audit percentage increased from 7.5% to 99.32% at the time of accreditation. Circle Health Group became the first and largest independent sector organization to achieve gold accreditation in September 2023.
