There are 10 elements to the standard infection control precautions (SICPs) providing international guidance on infection prevention and control.
SICPs are the necessary precautions that all health and social care staff must adhere to, to reduce the risk of transmission of micro-organisms from both recognised and unrecognised sources of infection.
This video resource details the 10 elements to SICPs.
The most common way germs are spread is by people's hands. Hands are covered in a range of micro-organisms, many harmless, but some can also cause illnesses such as diarrhoea and vomiting, flu and other serious illness.
This video resource documents appropriate hand hygiene for working in care environments.
Personal protective equipment (PPE) is a requirement of health and safety legislation. It is used to protect staff and people you care for to reduce the opportunities for spreading infections.
This video resource documents the types of, and uses of, personal protective equipment.
Care homes for older people produce many different types of waste some of which requires special handling and disposal. This would include waste such as sharps, used continence products, wound dressings from individuals and waste generated from people who have or may have an infection, particularly during an outbreak of diarrhoea and vomiting.
This video resource documents the safe disposal of all waste by those involved in the handling, transporting and processing of it.
Report that describes current NHS support for care homes. It tells a story of unmet need, unacceptable variation and often poor quality of care provided by the NHS to the estimated 400,000 older people resident in UK care homes.
Briefing paper produced to highlight the key research messages from the Centre for Excellence and Outcomes in Children and Young People’s services (C4EO) for general practitioners (GPs) and other commissioners and providers of health services, across a number of thematic areas. The messages help to illustrate some of the interventions that have been proven to have a positive impact and make a difference in people’s lives.
Paper that advocates a model for targeting health and social care provision in older old age called ‘Turnaround’.
Turnaround is advocated in the context of older population changes which make it imperative that authorities limit the need for high cost provision such as residential care and intensive home care support.
The approach would aim to develop provision that lessens the likelihood of admission to hospital or care, or demand for high intensity community provision, through a holistic approach which focuses on improvement, recovery and rehabilitation.
Following Lord Darzi’s pledge to pilot direct payments and individual budgets in health care, this paper provides a brief background to the concept and principles of these ways of working, before focusing in more detail on some frequently asked questions.
The paper is intended to help inform forthcoming pilots, and was initially commissioned by NHS West Midlands as part of their Investing for Health strategy.
This report provides a snapshot in time of a rapidly changing primary care market. As PCTs conclude their procurement of new GP practices and GP-led health centres, there is a need for more systematic evaluation of the impact of choice and competition on the delivery and outcomes of primary medical care.
Paper that compares the NHS and Kaiser programmes and details the achievements and challenges in the Kaiser NHS Beacon Sites Programme.