Download Infection prevention and control: lessons from acute care

Learning report
November 2015
Infection prevention and
control: lessons from
acute care in England
Towards a whole health economy approach
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the hospitals and research participants involved in this learning
report and the research team: Professor Alison Holmes, Professor Mary Dixon-Woods,
Dr Raheelah Ahmad, Dr Elizabeth Brewster, Dr Enrique Castro-Sánchez, Dr Federica Secci
and Dr Walter Zingg. With input from Susan Burnett, Professor Ewan Ferlie, Tracey Galletly,
Fran Husson, Claire Kilpatrick, Dr Reda Lebcir and the Patients Association.
Contact
Alison Holmes
Professor of Infectious Diseases, Imperial College London
[email protected]
Infection prevention and control: lessons from acute care in England
is published by the Health Foundation, 90 Long Acre, London WC2E 9RA
ISBN: 978-1-906461-71-3
© 2015 The Health Foundation
Contents
Foreword
2
Glossary of common abbreviations
4
1
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
Introduction6
What are health care associated infections? 6
The landscape of infection control in England since 2000
7
Progress and successes, 2000 to 2015
8
Health care associated infections in 2015 and challenges ahead 10
2
Lessons from research about acute care in England 2.1
Evaluating campaigns and initiatives for infection prevention
and control
2.2
The effective organisation of infection prevention and control
at trust level
2.3Leadership
2.4
The role of measurement and monitoring in infection prevention
and control 2.5Regulation
2.6
Keeping patients and the public informed
2.7
Care bundles
2.8
Screening and vaccination strategies
12
3
The future of infection prevention and control
18
4
Conclusion21
Appendix 1: Research methods
12
14
14
14
16
16
16
17
22
Contents
1
Foreword
It is with pleasure that I write the foreword for this concise learning report on infection
prevention and control (IPC), which builds on the large body of work conducted by
researchers at Imperial College London and the University of Leicester. The Health
Foundation has brought together a strong multidisciplinary team to review activity and
interventions to reduce health care associated infections (HCAI) in English acute care
organisations over the last 15 years with the aim of ensuring that key learning can be
collectively reflected upon and to shape further national and local activity.
Continuous learning is a key Health Foundation principle and is particularly supported
by one of the overriding lessons highlighted in this report: namely, the importance of
ensuring that any major interventions, such as local antimicrobial resistance (AMR)
action plans, are supported by a planned analysis which should examine impact and
implementation as well as cost-effectiveness. Such an understanding would form a solid
basis for informing further interventions. There has been much interest internationally
in some of the UK’s significant successes in HCAI reduction, but there is little material
available for shared learning in the absence of adequate studies on national interventions.
The key lessons in this report are being well heeded and are being discussed with relevant
partners to ensure actions are put in place to address them. These actions should build
upon this learning report, recognising that whilst IPC behaviours of those working at
the front line are critical, they must also be actively supported and positively reinforced
by a hospital environment that supports best IPC practice and minimises risk. Several of
the findings and key lessons particularly in relation to the need to address AMR are also
reinforced by the Chief Medical Officer’s report UK 5-year Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR)
Strategy (2013-2018). I am also pleased to acknowledge that the Health Foundation is
becoming involved in improving antibiotic prescribing behaviours, which is a key aspect
of IPC.
I am delighted that the views and input from our patients and the public have been
particularly invited and explored in this report and that there will be ongoing work to
better understand public and patient engagement and involvement.
Even though the scope of this commissioned report was confined to acute care and to
HCAI prevention, the authors make two fundamental recommendations that should be
considered by policymakers. These are, firstly, that addressing the threat of AMR must
be more effectively integrated with the delivery of strong IPC and, secondly, that tackling
any transmissible organism must be addressed comprehensively across the whole patient
journey. Organisms do not respect boundaries between community, primary and secondary
care, so a whole health care economy approach is vital.
2
Infection prevention and control: lessons from acute care in England
As Chair of the Department of Health advisory committee on antimicrobial resistance and
healthcare associated infection (ARHAI), I fully endorse the lessons within this learning
report. I am delighted that ARHAI will discuss actions to address the report's findings with
the Health Foundation in the coming year.
Professor Mike Sharland
Chair of the Department of Health advisory committee on antimicrobial resistance and
healthcare associated infection (ARHAI)
Foreword
3
Glossary of common abbreviations
Abbreviation Definition
AMR
Antimicrobial resistance – this occurs when microorganisms such
as bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites change in ways that render
ineffective the medications used to cure the infections they cause.
When the microorganisms become resistant to most antimicrobials they
are often referred to as ‘superbugs’. This is a major concern because
a resistant infection may kill, can spread to others and imposes huge
costs on society.
BSI
Bloodstream infection (also known as a bacteraemia) – an invasion
of the bloodstream by bacteria. This may occur through a wound or
infection, or through a surgical procedure or injection. There may be
no symptoms and it may resolve without treatment, or it may produce
fever and other symptoms of infection. In some cases, a BSI leads to
septic shock, a life-threatening condition.
BBV
Blood-borne viruses – for instance, Hepatitis B and C, and HIV, can be
transmitted to health care workers or patients.
CAUTI
Catheter-associated urinary tract infection – for patients with
a urinary catheter, germs can travel along the catheter and cause
an infection in the bladder or kidney – CAUTIs are one of the most
commonly reported HCAIs.
CDI
Clostridium difficile infection – a type of bacterial infection that can
affect the digestive system. It most commonly affects people who have
been treated with antibiotics. The symptoms of a C. difficile infection can
range from mild to severe diarrhoea.
CLABSI
Central line-associated bloodstream infection – a serious infection
that occurs when germs (usually bacteria) enter the bloodstream
through the central line. A central line (also known as a central venous
catheter) is a catheter (tube) that doctors often place in a large vein in
the neck, chest or groin to give medication or fluids or to collect blood
for medical tests. You may be familiar with intravenous catheters (also
known as IVs), which are used frequently to transmit medicine or fluids
into a vein near the skin’s surface (usually on the arm or hand) for short
periods of time. Central lines are different from IVs because central
lines access a major vein that is close to the heart. They can remain in
place for weeks or months and are much more likely to cause serious
infection. Central lines are commonly used in intensive care units.
CRBSI
Catheter-related bloodstream infection – a clinical definition, used
when diagnosing and treating patients. It requires specific laboratory
testing to more thoroughly identify the catheter as the source of the BSI.
It is often problematic to precisely establish if a BSI is a CRBSI due to the
clinical needs of the patient (the need to extract the catheter to be sure).
4
Infection prevention and control: lessons from acute care in England
Abbreviation Definition
CPE
Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae – a multi-resistant bacteria
emerging globally, it is resistant to the last line of antibiotics.
E. coli
Escherichia coli – bacteria commonly found in the lower intestine. The
most frequent cause of urinary tract infections and BSIs, it can cause
food poisoning.
GRE
Glycopeptide-resistant Enterococcus – bacteria which is carried
harmlessly in the gut. GRE is a type of Enterococcus that is resistant to
the glycopeptide type of antibiotics (eg vancomycin, teicoplanin).
S. aureus
Staphylococcus aureus – also known as staph, this is a common
type of bacteria. It is often carried on the skin and inside the nostrils
and throat, and can cause mild infections of the skin, such as boils
and impetigo. If the bacteria get into a break in the skin, they can cause
life-threatening infections, such as blood poisoning or endocarditis.
HCAI
Health care associated infections – infections that develop as a direct
result of medical or surgical treatment or contact in a health care setting.
MRSA
Meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus – a type of bacteria that is
resistant to a number of widely used antibiotics. This means that MRSA
infections can be more difficult to treat than other bacterial infections.
MSSA
Meticillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus – a type of bacteria which
lives harmlessly on the skin and in the nose, in about one third of people.
People who have MSSA on their bodies or in their noses are said to
be colonised. MSSA colonisation usually causes no problems, but the
bacteria can cause an infection when it gets the opportunity to enter the
body. This is more likely to happen in people who are already unwell.
MSSA can cause local infections such as abscesses or boils and it can
infect any wound that has caused a break in the skin, eg grazes, surgical
wounds. MSSA can cause serious infections called septicaemia (blood
poisoning) where it gets into the bloodstream. However, unlike MRSA,
MSSA is more sensitive to antibiotics and therefore easier to treat.
SSI
Surgical site infection – a surgical site is the incision or cut in the
skin made to carry out a surgical procedure, and the tissue handled or
manipulated during the procedure. A surgical site infection occurs when
microorganisms get into the part of the body that has been operated on
and multiply in the tissues.
UTI
Urinary tract infection – an infection of any of the following: kidneys,
ureters, bladder, urethra.
VAP
Ventilator-associated pneumonia – pneumonia that develops 48
hours or longer after mechanical ventilation is given by means of an
endotracheal tube or tracheostomy.
VRE
Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus – Enterococcus is a type of
bacteria that everyone has in their bowel. Vancomycin is one of the
antibiotics (a glycopeptide, see GRE above) used to treat infections
caused by the Enterococcus germ. Sometimes this germ develops
resistance to vancomycin. When this occurs, the infection can no longer
be treated by vancomycin.
Glossary of common abbreviations
5
1. Introduction
Infection control has been high on the political agenda and on the agenda of the NHS in
England for the last 15 years. During this time there have been many successes, not least
the reduction in MRSA bloodstream infections (BSIs) and cases of Clostridium difficile
infection. Though these successes should be celebrated, it is important not to become
complacent. Other health care associated infections (HCAIs) that have not been monitored
as rigorously are growing in incidence. New infections, including the growing number of
more resistant strains of bacteria, are in danger of spreading. As a result, infection control
needs to remain central to the work of the NHS and it is essential to continue building on
the achievements of recent years to reduce mortality, morbidity and health care costs.
This report considers what has been learned from the infection prevention and control (IPC)
work carried out over the last 15 years in hospitals in England and looks at how these lessons
should be applied in future. Should the NHS continue to respond in the same way to infection
threats or should new approaches be adopted? Of all the interventions made during this
period, what has worked best? Is it even possible to tell? How have all the infection control
procedures and practices impacted on the front line in clinical care and on service users?
The lessons the report sets out are drawn from the findings of a large research study that
identified and consolidated published evidence from the UK about national IPC initiatives and
interventions and synthesised this with findings from qualitative case studies in two large NHS
hospitals, including the perspectives of service users recorded during consultation events.
The report begins with an overview of HCAIs, especially those linked to hospitals. With
this background, the landscape of infection control in English hospitals is set out, including
recent successes and the challenges ahead. The report goes on to draw out lessons to help
inform future work to maintain hospitals as safe places.
1.1
What are health care associated infections?
Health care associated infections are infections that develop as a direct result of medical or
surgical treatment or contact in a health care setting.1,2 They can occur in hospitals and in health
or social care settings in the community and can affect both patients and health care workers. An
infection occurs when a germ (an organism such as a bacterium, virus or fungus) enters the body
and attacks or causes damage to it. Every individual is covered with bacteria on their body and
also carries trillions of them in their gut. Any medical or surgical procedure that breaks the skin
or any mucous membrane, introduces any foreign material or reduces immunity creates a risk of
infection. Some infections can enter the bloodstream and become generalised throughout the
body. This is known as a bacteraemia or bloodstream infection (BSI).
In this report we focus particularly on those infections that arise during hospital care.
Meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) BSIs and C. difficile associated diarrhoea
(C. difficile infection) are two well-known HCAIs that have been the focus of attention in
6
Infection prevention and control: lessons from acute care in England
England, but there are many more. MRSA BSIs are particularly associated with intravenous
devices (eg central lines) and C. difficile with antibiotic exposure. Hand hygiene,
environmental hygiene, the capacity to isolate patients and assuring optimal antibiotic
prescribing are all critical aspects of prevention of both.
Other HCAIs include BSIs caused by other organisms, urinary tract infections related to
urinary catheters (CAUTIs), respiratory tract infections such as pneumonia related to being
ventilated (VAP), or wound or surgical site infections (SSIs). Microorganisms come from
droplets that are sneezed or coughed (eg flu), from air (eg tuberculosis), or from water (eg
legionnaires' disease); they are passed within the hospital or they can come in from the
community (eg norovirus). Germs causing HCAIs may have different modes of transmission
and different sources, and patients may have different profiles of risk factors making them
more vulnerable to an HCAI, but some core infection prevention principles remain the same.
In hospital, infections can generally be classified as either transmission-dependent or as
arising from a patient’s own microbial flora (endogenous transmission). Transmissiondependent infections involve the acquisition of the pathogen from the health care
environment, for example person-to-person (for instance, through inadequate hand
hygiene) or from contaminated equipment, devices and environments (exogenous
transmission). Infections from a patient’s own microbial flora may arise post-surgically or
post-insertion of invasive devices such as intravenous lines. Prevention here relies on skin
cleansing and, for some procedures, prophylactic antibiotics.3,4,5
1.2
The landscape of infection control in England since 2000
A 2000 National Audit Office (NAO) report was highly critical of the strategic
management of HCAIs in England.6 Suggesting that infection control was the Cinderella
of the health service, the report criticised the lack of information about the infections and
the limited resources allocated to infection control teams. A key problem was that the size
and scope of HCAIs was simply unknown. A voluntary scheme for reporting BSIs had
existed during the 1990s, but suffered from problems of completeness and comparability.
More broadly, the report suggested that HCAIs had come to be seen as an intractable
problem, regarded by those working in hospitals (clinicians and managers) as an inevitable
consequence of providing health care. Such infections were thus regrettable, but were to a
large extent tolerated.
In 2001, mandatory reporting of MRSA BSI cases in hospitals was introduced, with a few
other selected infections included in the surveillance programme in subsequent years.
Further national reports in 2003 and 2004 suggested some improvement, including
evidence of hospital trusts giving higher priority to infection control.7,8 But criticism remained
of the failure of the NHS to ‘get a grip’ on both the extent and the cost of HCAIs.9
At the same time, HCAIs became a frequent and often vivid topic in the media10,11 and
a focus of huge public concern and political attention.12 Three recurring themes were
evident: the vulnerability to infection and corresponding fear felt by patients; dirty wards,
which, it was claimed, often occurred when cleaning contracts were outsourced and the
standards of cleaning dropped; and a demand to ‘bring back matron’, seen as the solution
to nurses’ poor compliance with prevention measures. Analysis of newspaper reporting at
1. Introduction
7
the time shows a steady increase in stories of ‘hospital superbugs’, peaking in the run-up
to the 2005 election, when hospital hygiene became a highly publicised issue.13 A separate
analysis of reporting about MRSA in 12 newspapers between 1994 and 2005 identified
that the momentum was fuelled in part by celebrity stories and some fictional media.14
Interestingly, the role of the pressure of antibiotic use in driving this increase was rarely
discussed. By 2008, a BBC poll was reporting that the risk of acquiring an infection was the
main fear of the public about inpatient care.
The combination of critical reports and media publicity produced important agenda-setting
effects, converting HCAI from a problem that had become rather neglected and underresourced into a social problem15,16 demanding a solution in the face of intense public and
political pressure. High-profile policy interventions followed in close succession.
1.3
Progress and successes, 2000 to 2015
The mandatory surveillance of MRSA BSI cases was introduced in April 2001. It was
managed by the Health Protection Agency (HPA) on behalf of the Department of Health.
A new target was introduced to NHS acute trusts in April 2005: the year-on-year reduction
of MRSA BSI rates. The data show striking progress towards this target, with MRSA
bloodstream infection rates (expressed as cases per 100,000 bed days) in steady decline in
England since 2004 (Figure 1).
Figure 1: Annual rates of MRSA BSIs for NHS trusts in England per 100,000
bed days, 2001/02–2014/1517,18
MRSA bacteraemia rate per 100,000 bed days
(all reported)
20
England average
16
12
8
4
8
Infection prevention and control: lessons from acute care in England
2014/15
2013/14
2012/13
2011/12
2010/11
2009/10
2008/09
2007/08
2006/07
2005/06
2004/05
2003/04
2002/03
2001/02
0
Mandatory surveillance was extended to glycopeptide-resistant Enterococcal (GRE) BSI
in October 2003, C. difficile infection (CDI) for people aged over 65 in January 2004,
meticillin-sensitive S. aureus (MSSA) BSI in January 2011 and Escherichia coli (E. coli) BSI
in June 2011.19 The reporting of CDI was extended to everyone over the age of two in 2007
after the inquiry into the C. difficile outbreaks at Stoke Mandeville (where the focus on
MRSA alone was cited as a contributory factor to the CDI outbreak).20 Trust apportioned
rates show a decline since 2007/08 (see Figure 2).
Figure 2: Annual C. difficile rates in England, 2007/08–2014/1521,22
England average
80
60
40
20
2014/15
2013/14
2012/13
2011/12
2010/11
2009/10
2008/09
0
2007/08
CDI rate per 100,000 bed days for specimens taken from
patients aged two years and over (trust apportioned cases)
100
Not all progress has been in the right direction, however. E. coli represents the most
rapidly increasing and most common BSI, accounting for 36% of the BSIs seen nationally,
compared with 1.6% caused by MRSA (see Figure 3, overleaf).23
1. Introduction
9
Figure 3: All reported rates England average: MRSA BSI, C. difficile infection,
MSSA BSI, E. coli BSI, 2001/02–2013/1417,18,21,22,24,25
160.0
MRSA
140.0
MSSA
E. coli
CDI (patients ≥ 2 years)
Rate per 100,000 bed day
(all reported)
120.0
100.0
80.0
60.0
40.0
20.0
1.4
2013/14
2012/13
2011/12
2010/11
2009/10
2008/9
2007/8
2006/7
2005/6
2004/5
2003/4
2002/3
2001/2
0.0
Health care associated infections in 2015 and challenges ahead
The most recent studies report that between 5.1% and 11.6% of hospitalised patients
will acquire at least one HCAI, with the risk of HCAI greatest in intensive care units
(ICUs), where the prevalence is 23.4% (with a 95% confidence interval of 17.3–31.8*).26,27
The best estimates available for attributable deaths from HCAI are those attributable to
Staphylococcus aureus BSI or C. difficile infections. These combined estimates have been
recorded as causing 9,000 deaths per year.28,23
The types of infections occurring have also shifted, with far fewer MRSA bloodstream
and C. difficile infections, but increasing numbers of BSIs caused by E. coli and other
bacteria increasingly resistant to the effects of antibiotics or the actions of the body’s
immune system.
Figure 4 shows the trends in infections in the population as a whole rather than in
people in hospital. This shows how infections in hospital mirror those in the wider
community. For example, the spike in C. difficile in the financial year 2006/07 and
the current rise in E. coli BSIs are being experienced in the population as a whole, and,
inevitably, in hospitals too.
*
10
This means that there is a 95% probability that the value of HCAI prevalence in ICUs lies within this range.
Infection prevention and control: lessons from acute care in England
Figure 4: Trends in C. difficile infection, MRSA, MSSA and E. coli BSIs (England
2002–2014, calendar years)23
120.0
MRSA
MSSA
100.0
Rate per 100,000 population
E. coli
C. difficile
80.0
60.0
40.0
20.0
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
0.0
In her annual report in 2011, the Chief Medical Officer set out the challenges ahead for
infections in the UK and in particular for the joint challenges of antibiotic resistance,
infection prevention and HCAI:23
••
The host: as medicine becomes more successful in keeping us alive, more and more
people in the population are immunocompromised. This includes the increase in the
numbers of older people; more babies (neonates) surviving pre-term; more people
with lifestyle risks (obesity, smoking, excess alcohol consumption); and more people
on immunosuppressant drugs for conditions such as cancer and renal transplant.
••
The environment: as hospitals get busier, the ease with which infections can spread
increases. The risk may be increased by overcrowding; poor cleaning due to areas
being too busy; inadequate facilities for hand hygiene and poor aseptic technique.
••
The pathogens: many more pathogens are becoming resistant to antibiotics and
new pathogens are now coming into hospitals.
To truly address infection prevention and antimicrobial resistance (AMR), action must not
be confined within the walls of a hospital; it must consider all aspects of patient care and
pathways. That includes community, primary and hospital care and includes the health
care professionals and patients within and across each of these settings – ie across the whole
health care economy.
1. Introduction
11
2. Lessons from research about
acute care in England
Many lessons can be learned from the tremendous amount of work undertaken in England over
the last 15 years to improve infection prevention and control (IPC). In this section, we set out
a brief summary of findings and conclusions from our research. Our research methods are set
out in more detail in Appendix 1.
Briefly, we used a mixed-method approach incorporating literature reviews, qualitative
case studies including interviews with members of staff from ward to board in two acute
hospitals in England, and a user consultation event to hear the views of patients and the
public. We also undertook a scoping exercise to identify the availability and use of data to
monitor HCAI and indicators of IPC performance in UK hospital trusts. Data from three
previous studies were used: one, the Lining Up ethnographic study of intensive care units’
attempts to reduce central venous catheter bloodstream infections,29 and two large-scale
innovation adoption studies (Commissioned by the Department of Health;30 and funded
by the National Institute for Health Research, Health Services and Delivery Research31).
2.1
Evaluating campaigns and initiatives for infection prevention and control
The timeline set out in Figure 5 shows the concentration of interventions targeting HCAI in
hospitals since 2000. These range from mandatory reporting of selected infections, regulatory
interventions, national guidelines and national campaigns that were often running in parallel.
Perhaps the most influential intervention was the early introduction of mandatory surveillance
of MRSA BSIs. This quantified the problem and made it clear that action was needed across
the NHS. Following on from this, in 2004 the national cleanyourhands campaign was
launched. Among many changes introduced in this campaign, the most visible are the alcohol
hand-rub dispensers that can be seen throughout hospitals. Further initiatives have been
based on the use of ‘care bundles’, which group together practices that should be performed
consistently. Programmes that used bundles included Saving Lives High Impact Interventions,
Patient Safety First and Matching Michigan.32 These initiatives were aimed at improving
reliability in the use of procedures known to prevent surgical site infections, central venous
catheter infections and infections linked to ventilators in intensive care units.
HCAI rates have declined over this period, but our research showed that it is impossible to
attribute success to any one initiative, nor is it possible to say which components of any one
programme were critical. We do know that multimodal interventions work. We also know
that having the backing of a national campaign gains the attention of trust executives, bringing
focus and resource to IPC where needed and providing strong external reinforcement.33,34,35 But
much learning about what works in large-scale IPC programmes has been lost because so little
research and evaluation was conducted to determine effectiveness or to identify mechanisms
of change and contextual influences. A key lesson here is that future campaigns would benefit
from a programme of evaluation running in parallel to help understand what works and
why. Also important for future campaigns will be a requirement for a systems-wide focus
across entire health economies, rather than confining efforts and resources to the acute sector.
12
Infection prevention and control: lessons from acute care in England
Figure 5: Timeline of selected interventions to reduce HCAIs and improve IPC
Key
2001
Launch of national campaigns
Recommendations
Mandatory
First edition of epic published – The epic project: developing national evidence-based guidelines
for preventing health care associated infectionsi
Surveillance of MRSA BSIii
2003
Report of the Chief Medical Officer: Winning ways: guidance to reduce hospital acquired
infection in Englandiii
Surveillance of Glycopeptide-Resistant Enterococci (GRE)iv (became voluntary in April 2013)v
2004
cleanyourhands (England and Wales) funded by the Department of Health; coordinated by the
National Patient Safety Agencyvi
Surveillance of C. difficile-associated diarrhoea in patients aged 65 and overiv
Surveillance of orthopaedic surgical site infectionsiv
Patient Safety Alert issued, mandating placement of bedside alcohol handrubvii
All NHS trusts to appoint a director of infection prevention and controliii
2005
Saving Lives – including high impact interventions based on the care bundle principleviii
National target reduction for the number of incidents of MRSA bloodstream infections by 50%
over three-year period (April 2005 – March 2008) compared to the 2003/04 baseline dataix
2006
Health Act 2006, requirement for provider registration with regulator, requirement for providers
to ensure protection against HCAI, and new code of practice on infectionsx
Visits by Department of Health improvement teams to acute hospitalsxi
Chief Medical Officer makes CEOs personally responsible for the accuracy of infection data
submitted by their trustsxii
2007
Introduction of bare below the elbows guidancexiii
epic2: National evidence-based guidelines for preventing health care associated infections in NHS
hospitals in Englandxiv
Surveillance of C. difficile infection extended to all cases in patients aged two and overxv
2008
Patient Safety Firstxvi
Prime minister declared HCAIs a ‘top priority’ and ordered a programme of deep cleaning
DH issued Clean, safe care: reducing infections and Saving Livesxvii
Health and Social Care Act 2008: required registration with the Care Quality Commission: duty
to protect patients against HCAIs. New code of practicexviii,xix
National target to reduce C. difficle infection by at least 30% by March 2011, compared to the
2007/08 baseline dataxx
2009
Matching Michigan programmexxi
Some NHS trusts participated in Commissioning for Quality and Innovation (CQUIN) schemes
that made a percentage of their incomes dependent on demonstrating compliancexxii
2010
Robert Francis Inquiry Report into Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust (January 2005 –
March 2009)xxiii
2011
Surveillance of Methicillin sensitive S. aureus (MSSA) BSIxxiv
Surveillance of Escherichia coli (E. coli) BSIxxv
2013
Robert Francis Report of the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust public inquiryxxvi
Post-infection reviews for all MRSA BSIsxxvii
2014
epic3: National evidence-based guidelines for preventing health care associated infections in NHS
hospitals in Englandxxviii
For details of the references in this timeline, see www.health.org.uk/hcai
2. Lessons from research about acute care in England
13
2.2
The effective organisation of infection prevention and control at trust level
In our research, it was clear that organisations may aspire to best practice in IPC. Executive
team members in our case study hospitals commented that IPC was on the agenda for every
board meeting and was integrated into trust strategy. IPC interventions were ‘very visible’.
Many of those working on the front line felt that IPC was a high priority in the area in
which they worked and that colleagues generally understood what good IPC involved.
Despite the high priority given to IPC, often it was not considered part of wider patient
safety and quality improvement work in hospitals. This has meant that at the front line,
IPC work may be seen as competing with other patient safety and quality strategies. Trusts
need to be aware of this, and where possible bring the improvement work together in an
integrated way at the clinical front line while maintaining the necessary expert input.
A key lesson is that trusts must continue to have both the structural and cultural capacity
to deliver effective IPC. They should recognise and understand the impact of a positive
organisational culture since it has implications for staff turnover and motivation and is
important when looking at the sustainability of approaches to IPC.
2.3Leadership
Participants in our research stressed the need for strong leadership to support activities
to prevent and control infection within the organisation. They also emphasised the need
for support for IPC to be fully aligned, from the trust board, executive team and specialist
infection control staff through to all those working on the front line (both clinical and
non-clinical). Two views were expressed on leadership: one stressed the need for
leadership and support from specialist infection control staff; the other emphasised the
need for clinicians working on the front line to ‘own’ and lead themselves.
Since 2004, all NHS trusts have been required to have a director of infection prevention and
control (DIPC) to provide a direct line of accountability to the CEO and the board. The DIPC
is intended to lead and champion IPC at multiple levels within the organisation, ensuring
that a consistent messages and best practice are embedded and continuously improved
in directorates, groups, teams and networks. Many other clinical and managerial roles in
hospitals now have IPC built into their responsibilities, including matrons, clinical directors,
directorate managers, ward managers, pharmacists and others.
A key lesson here is that leadership for IPC needs to be distributed throughout an
organisation, with clinical champions identified in all areas.36,37,38 This is especially
important as we found that, at the sharp end of care, health care workers had to address
competition between immediate priorities and best IPC practice on a day-to-day basis.
2.4 The role of measurement and monitoring in infection prevention
and control
Our research found that there can be little doubt about the value of mandatory surveillance
systems for specific infections. Surveillance, involving the measurement and reporting
of infections according to agreed definitions and with timely feedback, makes problems
visible and hence actionable. Surveillance is now part of day-to-day life in clinical areas.
14
Infection prevention and control: lessons from acute care in England
For organisations, data on their particular infection rates and their own problems are
critical in stimulating action, particularly when teams can identify that they are performing
poorly in comparison with similar trusts.
The available data suggest that some infections (such as MRSA bloodstream infections)
have shown a welcome reduction, but at the same time others have risen in number.
Since these latter infections are not in the national spotlight, their rise has almost gone
unnoticed, particularly at the hospital level. Care needs to be taken to ensure that all
locally relevant HCAIs are monitored in hospitals, not just those subject to mandatory
surveillance. At the national level, measures also need to be appropriate and able to change
in response to the shifting epidemiology of infectious diseases.
We also know now that at the trust level, understanding IPC needs a wider set of data.39
Recent research has identified that a suite of organisational process and outcome indicators
need to be assessed in order to monitor IPC performance (Table 1).40 These indicators
cover such issues as the effective organisation of IPC at a hospital level; measures of how
crowded or busy a hospital is from data on bed occupancy and staffing levels; how many
temporary members of staff are employed; levels and take-up of education and training in
IPC; the findings from regular audits against agreed guidelines; and – recognising the role of
a positive organisational culture in good IPC – some regular measures of safety culture.
Table 1: Recommended organisational components for effective Infection
prevention and control40
1.
Effective organisation of IPC at a hospital level.
2.
Effective bed occupancy, appropriate staffing and workload, minimal use of pool/
agency nurses.
3.
Sufficient availability of and easy access to materials and equipment, optimisation
of ergonomics.
4.
Use of guidelines in combination with practical education and training.
5.
Education and training (involves front-line staff and is team- and task-oriented).
6.
Organising audits as a standardised and systematic review of practice with timely
feedback.
7.
Participating in prospective surveillance and offering active feedback, preferably as
part of a network.
8.
Implementing IPC programmes following a multimodal strategy, including tools
such as bundles and checklists developed by multidisciplinary teams, and taking
into account local conditions (and principles of behavioural change).
9.
Identifying and engaging champions in the promotion of intervention strategies.
10. Promoting positive organisational culture by fostering working relationships and
communication across units and staff groups.
2. Lessons from research about acute care in England
15
2.5Regulation
IPC is now embedded in the regulatory structures governing NHS care in England, with
oversight by the Care Quality Commission. It was clear in our research that this external
regulatory pressure has been felt at all levels in NHS organisations and is seen by many
in the case study organisations as having stimulated action that has improved care for
patients. The external emphasis on HCAI was reported to have brought about a new shared
acceptance of the importance of IPC and the need for it to be a collective responsibility.
Given the figures for infection in the wider population (see section 1), in the context of
the restructured NHS in England, this shared ownership now needs to extend beyond the
hospital setting to primary care and the clinical commissioning groups.
Regulation has been important in keeping IPC central to the NHS agenda, particularly
for trust boards. However, too narrow a focus or too harsh a regime can have unintended
consequences, including the neglect of other important infections; for this reason, future
inspection and regulation needs to be designed well, for example, taking into account
specific local infection risks that are relevant for that trust.
2.6
Keeping patients and the public informed
The national media has continued to take an interest in infection prevention and in
infections more generally. The influence of the media on patient perceptions has been
reported in many research papers. In our interviews, members of staff discussed both
the positive and negative impacts of the media on IPC practices in their hospital. Some
felt that media coverage of infections and outbreaks was unhelpful, but some also reported
that the raised profile of IPC helped to drive up standards. Our research found that patients
took a more holistic view of safety in hospitals than just MRSA rates when able to access
this information.41
2.7
Care bundles
A key principle underpinning the government’s strategy on HCAIs is that clinical
procedures performed on patients should be done correctly and with appropriate
infection control on every occasion.42 The care bundle approach, which involves
assembling evidence-based or logical actions into a group of tasks that should all be
performed consistently for specific activities, has been seen as key to this and has been
widely adopted.
Research has shown that using care bundles has benefits when used as part of a wider
multimodal improvement programme involving all aspects of what has been shown
to work.
In our research hospitals, participants appreciated the clarity about expected practices
that care bundles bring, but only if the practices are evidence-based and continue to be
updated as new knowledge is discovered.
16
Infection prevention and control: lessons from acute care in England
2.8
Screening and vaccination strategies
Research suggests that universal admission screening for MRSA is associated with
decreased colonisation, MRSA BSI and mortality. These studies indicate that effective
infection prevention approaches need to consider the entire health care economy in order
to be effective and sustainable.43 Comprehensive strategies to reduce carriage and the
clinical reservoir of MRSA are required if progress towards zero preventable BSIs for all
MRSA BSIs is to be achieved.44
Screening on or prior to admission is beneficial but can require a lot of resources. If
screening is to be carried out routinely for organisms of particular concern, then it is crucial
that effective structures are introduced within the organisation to minimise the impact
on nurses and infection control practitioners.45,46 In parallel, the isolation capacity of the
hospital must be considered and managed, as the screening will increase the isolation
demand.47 This is becoming a particularly pertinent issue for acute trusts, as the NHS is
expected to deliver on the Public Health England toolkit for the management and control
of Carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE), a multi-resistant bacteria of
significant global concern.48
Vaccination is important for IPC, both for patients and people working in health care.
It prevents important infections such as measles, which can be very dangerous to some
vulnerable patients. Hepatitis B vaccination can protect people working in health care from
acquiring the virus from patients they care for and flu vaccination reduces staff sickness and
resulting ward staffing absences during flu outbreaks. Vaccination also plays an important
role in reducing antibiotic usage.49
2. Lessons from research about acute care in England
17
3. The future of infection
prevention and control
Drawing on what the research found about the successes and challenges in infection
prevention and control (IPC) over the last 15 years, we now move on to look at the lessons
learned and offer examples for future directions for effective IPC.
Measures for infection prevention and control need to be appropriate
and responsive.
Surveillance has allowed us to understand the extent of the problem of infection in
hospitals and has provided motivation to trust boards and clinical teams to engage in
IPC. In future, measures of progress need to be appropriate and responsive over time,
taking into account new infection threats in hospitals and where infection threats have
reduced significantly.
For example:
••
National mandatory surveillance must continue for specific infections, but must
take into account and respond to new and emerging infection threats.
••
Care needs to be taken to ensure that local surveillance is appropriate and all relevant
HCAIs are monitored in hospitals, not just those subject to mandatory surveillance,
which can skew efforts away from infections that are on the rise or those of local
importance. All health care associated BSIs relevant to the local trust should be
monitored (for example in neonatal, paediatric or adult ICUs, in haematology
or in haemodialysis), and the local surveillance of surgical site infections should
reflect the surgery performed at the trust, not just the mandatory surveillance of
orthopaedic joint replacement surgery.
Infection prevention and control should remain central to inspection
and regulation.
Future inspection and regulation needs to be well designed. It should consider the local
infection profile and the local vulnerable patient groups, specialities or risk procedures of
a trust and its community, and also include antibiotic stewardship. It must also consider
managerial responses to minimising risk so that unintended consequences can be anticipated.
For example:
••
Strong management support for IPC, including surveillance support, maximising
environmental hygiene and isolation capacity should be tangible and clearly evident.
••
Antibiotic stewardship activities should be included in any IPC review.
••
Local IPC programmes must address HCAI risks of local patient population,
specialities and procedures.
18
Infection prevention and control: lessons from acute care in England
All national-level campaigns require an explicit framework underpinning how the
campaign is intended to work and must be accompanied by an evaluation strategy.
National campaigns have had an impact across the NHS, but it is impossible to say for
certain what component has worked or which aspects have been particularly important in
reducing infections in hospitals. It is important that future campaigns are evaluated in order
to learn and to be confident in what works and why.
For example:
••
Future campaigns must address the basics of what is already known to work for IPC.
••
Future campaigns must involve the whole health economy.
••
All future campaigns must only be launched when there is an evaluation strategy
in place.
Hospitals must have the structural and cultural capacity to deliver effective
infection prevention and control and antibiotic usage.
Effective IPC requires the underpinning of a healthy organisation with the capacity
and capability to learn and to improve on a range of fronts (see Table 1: Recommended
organisational components for effective infection prevention and control). There should
be a move to introduce indicators of a healthy organisation and these must be linked to the
outcomes of IPC.
For example:
••
A range of process and outcome measures should be used to monitor effective IPC.
••
A positive organisational culture should be fostered to ensure IPC is maintained.
More work is needed at the trust level to measure and understand this.
Trusts need to ensure that the goals for infection prevention and control and
patient safety are integrated and aligned at the clinical front line.
We found that at times those working at the front line were overwhelmed with the
requirements for IPC, patient safety and quality improvement initiatives. This can
demotivate the exact people who need to remain engaged in IPC. Clearly the goals for IPC
and patient safety need to be integrated and aligned so that ‘doing the right thing, in the
safest possible way’ is the easiest thing for people to do.
For example:
••
Trust boards should integrate and align goals for IPC, safety and quality so that
‘doing the right thing’ is clear to all.
3. The future of infection prevention and control
19
Clinical and managerial leaders of infection prevention and control are needed at
all levels in the organisation.
The challenges ahead for IPC mean that it must remain central to the NHS agenda and the
work in all health care organisations. As such, clinical and managerial leaders of IPC are
needed at all levels with demonstrable managerial and clinical commitment. This must also
be supported by champions of good practice who lead by example.
For example:
••
Leaders of IPC should be identified at all levels in a trust and supported
appropriately.
••
Champions of IPC who lead by example are needed.
Define the role of the public before they become patients.
In the context of often high media coverage, health care organisations need to understand
better how the public and patients make sense of publicly available indicators and
information. IPC education, awareness of hand hygiene and the optimal use of antibiotics
need to be instilled in the wider public before they become patients, since studies have
suggested that patients are less likely to get involved at the point of care.
For example:
••
Patient education needs to start with the wider public understanding and using
meaningful indicators and supporting campaigns.
••
People working in hospitals should also be able to discuss what infection indicators
mean with patients.
A whole health economy approach is needed for infection prevention and
control in future.
Bugs don’t differentiate between primary and secondary care or between hospital and
home, yet most of the IPC focus to date has been on the hospital. It is time now to move to a
whole health economy approach. This will require measures of HCAI that span health sector
boundaries and look at the whole patient pathway. Economic analysis using a public health
approach in the wider community is needed to fully understand the impact of HCAIs and to
enable interventions to be developed that will have most impact for their investment.
For example:
••
The future focus of IPC should be across the whole health economy, promoting
joined up working.
••
Measures of HCAI prevention activity and antibiotic stewardship should be
developed that span health sector boundaries.
••
Economic analysis of IPC needs to have a system-level approach in order to
understand the full impact of HCAIs and to target interventions.
20
Infection prevention and control: lessons from acute care in England
4. Conclusion
In this report we have set out the findings from our research study and have drawn out the
lessons for the future of infection prevention and control (IPC). Tremendous progress in
IPC has been made in hospitals since 2000, but there are many areas that still need to be
understood better. For example, how to improve screening strategies and how to design
and implement patient pathways that minimise infection transmission risk in hospitals.
A new approach to research in IPC is needed, with analysis aiming to explicitly consider
multimodal factors. Importantly, we must learn from other countries – not just about what
works in IPC, but also what doesn’t.
The central message is that we cannot take our eye off the IPC ball. Many challenges lie
ahead, and IPC must remain central to clinical care and to the priorities of the NHS. Many of
the successes to date have been hard won and if the focus on IPC was reduced in any way, it
would not be long before the numbers would rise again. Furthermore, while attention has
been focused on MRSA BSI and CDI, the numbers of other infections, such as those caused
by increasingly resistant bacteria and E. coli, have been rising. Therefore, effective antibiotic
stewardship activity needs to be part of any IPC programme. It is vital to continuously
monitor and be alert, responsive and adaptive to all infections in hospitals, and across all
health and social care settings and the community, while retaining best practice in IPC.
4. Conclusion
21
Appendix 1: Research methods
This report is based on a mixed-method study comprising reviews of the literature, qualitative
case studies and a user consultation event. An integrated deductive-inductive approach to
analysis was used.50 A multi-stakeholder advisory board provided guidance throughout the
study process. Members included: patients’ representatives, health care practitioners and
experts in IPC, health systems, psychology, sociology and organisational analysis.
The literature review was designed to examine peer-reviewed UK literature aimed at
reducing HCAIs and improving health care workers’ practices relating to IPC in hospitals,
during the period between January 2000 and January 2013. It focused on practices of
IPC, and therefore excluded consideration of antibiotic stewardship and studies that were
primarily basic science, microbiological or epidemiological in character, with no implications
for practice. An extensive search of databases using specially designed search strategies was
conducted. All types of study design were included. These searches identified 343 candidate
articles which were screened according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, and quality
assessed,51 resulting in 47 articles available for analysis. A scoping review of the international
peer-reviewed and grey literature provided the range of indicators recommended to assess
IPC performance. This informed a scoping exercise to identify the availability and use of
data to monitor HCAI and of indicators of IPC performance in UK hospital trusts.
The case studies included two purposively sampled NHS trusts, one in the north and one in
the south of England. The two trusts provided different contexts: a teaching hospital NHS
trust and a university hospital foundation trust. Interviews with 41 members of staff were
conducted in the two hospitals, with the aim of understanding the views and experiences
of those with responsibility for IPC from front-line staff to executive roles. The qualitative
analysis followed an integrated approach where a ‘start-up’ list of themes from the reviewed
literature was used followed by an inductive exploration of the data.50 The analysis also drew
on data from previous research conducted by the project team, specifically the Lining Up
study (Health Foundation), and two large-scale innovation adoption studies (Department
of Health, and Health Services and Delivery Research). This previous research sample
included the two case study sites sampled here, allowing for a longitudinal perspective.
User views were sought through a public consultation event facilitated by the research
team in collaboration with Opinion Leader and the Patients Association. A sample of
15 carers and 26 patients was recruited from across London. Recruitment was by quota
sampling on ethnicity, and satisfaction level with care received by self or in capacity as a
carer. Data collection was via group interviews,52 self-completion questionnaires and notes
from direct observation. Group discussions were audio recorded, transcribed and analysed
by the research team and the patient representative on the steering group (who also
attended the event as an observer).
For more information, including details of all the papers included in the literature review,
see www.health.org.uk/hcai
22
Infection prevention and control: lessons from acute care in England
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