Position - Infection Control Sister
Location - High Wycombe and Great Missenden - Buckinghamshire
Salary - £30k - 33.5k P.A
Hours per week - 37.5
Role type - Permanent, Full-time
My client based in Buckinghamshire have a vacancy for a full time Infection Control Sister to contribute to the prevention, surveillance and investigation of infections for their South Buckinghamshire Hospitals.
You will be based in Great Missenden but will be required to travel to their other hospitals in the South Bucks area.
The Hospitals is registered with the Heathcare Commission.
Dimensions of this role
As Infection Control Sister :
Role Purpose:
To ensure Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) is addressed in all areas of the hospital and reflected throughout all activity related to healthcare provision.
To ensure infection prevention is taken into account in all new business, new build and refurbishment.
To ensure compliance to all countries HCAI requirements and standards and especially compliance to the HCAI code for CQC requirements in England.
Core Responsibilities:
o To be a core member of the Hospital IPC committee (HIPCC).
o To develop in partnership with the senior person responsible for IPC (Director of Nursing (DoN)) and with approval of the HIPCC, an annual program, that is aligned to the HCAI code (DH 2010) (plus for Scottish and Welsh hospitals: NHS Scotland Code of Practice and National HCAI strategy for hospitals in Wales) and reflects specific objectives of National Infection Prevention and Control annual program.
o Depending on level of competency will be the key implementer of the Hospital IPC program.
o Utilizes and works in partnership with the local Infection Control Doctor (ICD) ensuring that the service level agreement is appropriate for the hospital size, activity levels and complexity.
o To ensure risks of infection are identified throughout all hospital departments and disciplines and risk assessments are in place reflecting controls that are reviewed at least annually and as otherwise indicated.
o To ensure local infection control policies reflect corporate policies, writing local Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) as appropriate, and liaise with departmental heads to ensure these are implemented.
o To ensure all staff have appropriate infection prevention and control training using a combination of online and face to face training.
o To implement and maintain a continuous hand hygiene improvement program.
o To implement and oversee a surveillance program that includes:
o Alert organism and disease surveillance
o Alert symptom surveillance
o Surgical site surveillance: especially hip and knee replacement surgery
o All bacteremia reports for internal and external reporting
o All Clostridium difficle reports for internal and external
o Ensures that all surveillance data is analyzed, utilizing the expertise and input of the local ICD.
o Uses Root Cause Analysis (RCA) in cases of infection to identify issues and causes with inclusion of clinical staff, especially in relation to changes required in practice as a result of the analysis.
o To identify patient information requirements and ensure these are met at local level.
o To develop IPC link persons in all areas of the hospital to support IPC practice in their own areas/disciplines.
o To ensure programs of auditing are in place in relation to IPC and supports the active involvement of IPC link persons in each area.
o To ensure all low risk medical devices throughout the hospital are subject to a decontamination schedule appropriate for the level of risk.
o To ensure that all medium and high risk medical devices used in the hospital are subject to appropriate decontamination i.e.:
o through a SLA for sterile services with an accredited sterile service department for surgical instruments.
o For on-site high level disinfectant for endoscope equipment, that a compliant unit and service is provided.
o To ensure there is appropriate engineer and ICD support for monitoring the environment, this includes:
o Ventilation(especially in pharmacy aseptic units, theatre departments, minor ops departments and endoscope units)
o Water safety (including hydrotherapy pools)
o To ensure environmental cleaning is sufficient and appropriate to the level of risk in each area of the hospital in partnership with housekeeping department.
o To ensure management of any food preparation is undertaken by trained competent staff in partnership with catering department.
o To provide comment and advice on the purchase/introduction and use of equipment in relation to IPC issues.
o To support the Local Waste officer in all waste management but especially in the management of the clinical waste stream.
o To ensure all reports required centrally for organizational wide information purposes and to support early identification of risks are collated and submitted within the set time limits.
o To ensure IPC is an integral part of local governance and health & safety structures.
Key Accountabilities:
o Directly accountable to Director of Nursing (DoN)/Executive Director.
Key Relationships:
o All hospital staff including resident medical officers (RMO’s)
o Medical staff and Consultant users
o Group Head of Infection Prevention and Control Department
o Consultant Microbiologist/Infection Prevention and Control Doctor
o Networking with other HIPCL ‘s
Key Performance Indicators:
o nil bacteremia reports attributable to the hospital
o Nil Clostridium difficle reports, attributable to the hospital
o Below NHS rate of infection for hip and knee surgery
o Continued improvement in WHO hand hygiene assessment
o Compliance targets achieved in high impact care bundles
o Patient satisfaction in hand hygiene measured and targets achieved
Knowledge / Skills / Qualifications:
o Registered Nurse(or other profession e.g. Operating Department Practioner) with 2 years post registration
o ENB 998 (or equivalent)
o Willingness to develop specialist knowledge through specialist training courses to a level established as required at the hospital.
o Able to apply specialist knowledge to risk assessment and support appropriate controls
o Ability to provide leadership and development of all disciplines of staff
o Ability to work across disciplines
o Good communication skills
o Good interpersonal skills
o Motivational skills
o Understanding of basic principles of infection control
o Presentation skills
o Experience in dealing with staff regarding clinical issues
o Ability to manage difficult and complex situations
o Ability to provide or/and support staff in feedback of microbiological results
For more information on this position please contact Holly Brace at JP Recruit on 07912 179950 or 0844 357 1157, alternatively please email holly@jprec.co.uk