Infection Control Annual Statement Report

Purpose

This annual statement will be generated each year in accordance with the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 Code of Practice on the prevention and control of infections and related guidance.

The report will be published on the practice website and will include the following summary:

• Any infection transmission incidents and actions taken (these will have been reported in accordance with our significant event procedure)
• Details of any infection control audits carried out and follow up actions
• Details of any risk assessments undertaken for the prevention and control of infection
• Details of relevant staff training
• Any review and update of policies, procedures and guidelines

Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) lead

The lead for infection prevention and control at North Wood Group Practice is Grace Kearns-Conway - Lead Practice Nurse.

The IPC lead is supported by Donna Gibbs - Development Director.

Infection Transmission Incidents (Significant Events)

A significant event is any unintended or unexpected event, which could or did lead to harm of one or more patients. This includes incidents which did not cause harm but had the potential to or where the event should have been prevented.

The practice has a formal process for recording and investigating such events to identify any changes that could reduce the risk of it happening again.

All significant events are reviewed and discussed at Clinical Governance and Patient Safety meetings that which are held on a regular basis throughout the year.

Any learning points are cascaded to all relevant staff where an action plan, including audits or policy review, may follow.

In the past year there have been no significant events raised that related to infection control. There have been no complaints made regarding cleanliness or infection control for the year to date.

Infection Prevention Audit and Actions

The practice has an audit programme in place. An annual Infection Prevention Control (IPC) audit was carried out by Grace Kearns-Conway, aat both Tulse Hill and Crown Dale sites on 13/11/2024 and actions arising from the audit are being followed up by the practice. Further to this the practice had a routine NHS Infection prevention and control audit carried out on the 17^th December 2024 by Sanjeev Bundhoo, Public Health IPC Manager from NHS England.  The practice received an overall compliance of 96.9% for our Tulse Hill branch and 96.1% for our Crown Dale branch.  Action plans generated from these audits are being followed up.

In addition, the following audits are carried out regularly:

• Handwashing audits
• Vaccine management audits
• Domestic cleaning audits
• Clinical room spot checks
• Sharps management audits

Risk Assessments

Risk assessments are carried out so that any infection prevention and control risk is minimised to ensure a safe environment for patients, staff and visitors.

In the last year, the following risk assessments were carried out/reviewed:

• External Risk Assessments: Fire and Legionella
• Internal Risk Assessments: General Risk Assessment for the whole practice, including Asbestos, Fire, Hazardous Substances, COSHH (Control of Substances Hazardous for Health), Manual Handling, Environment, Waste Disposal, Sharps, Drugs and Medicines

Training

All staff and contractors receive infection prevention and control induction training on joining the team. Thereafter, all staff receive refresher training annually delivered through Practice Index HUB.

Policies and Procedures

The infection prevention and control policy is available to all staff and reviewed annually or sooner if there are any changes to national guidance or legislation.

The following policies have been reviewed and published to staff in the past year:

• Aseptic Technique Policy
• Blood Borne Viurses Policy
• Hand Hygiene Policy November 2024
• Infection Control - Specimen Handling  Biological Substances - Policy V2.0
• Infection Control Policy - Nov 2024
• Measles Response - Decontamination of Isolation Room SOP - August 2024
• Patient placement and assessment for infection risk June 2024
• PPE _ Personal Protective Equipment Policy 2024
• Safe management of care equipment - North Wood Group Practice 2024
• Safe Management of Sharps and Inoculation Injuries Policy
• Standard Infection Control Precautions  transmission based precautions 2024

Responsibility

It is the responsibility of all staff members to be familiar with this statement and their roles and responsibilities under it.

Review

The IPC lead and Practice Manager are responsible for reviewing and producing the annual statement.

This annual statement will be updated on or before 28th February 2026.

Written by Grace Kearns-Conway
North Wood Group Practice
Date 18th February 2025