Healthcare Associated Infection
Healthcare Associated Infection (HAI) are
infections that are acquired in the hospital or other
healthcare setting. Infections are caused by germs such as
bacteria, fungi or viruses entering the body. They can be minor and
stay in one area, like a boil or a chest infection or they can
spread throughout the body, like 'flu or septicaemia (blood
poisoning).
HAI is not unique to hospitals and may affect people in care
homes, GP practices or dental practices. Examples of HAIs include
MRSA and the winter vomiting bug.
Working with key service stakeholders, NHS Boards, Health
Protection Scotland (HPS), NHS Quality Improvement Scotland (QIS)
and Health Facilities Scotland, (HFS) the NES HAI team leads the
educational elements of the Scottish Government's HAI Task Force delivery plan on the
prevention and control of infection.
The Scottish Government is supporting the third phase of work
with funding of £54million over three years (2008-2011), the
biggest ever budget for HAI in Scotland. This will encompass
a wide range of measures to tackle HAI including the roll out of a
national MRSA screening programme, a new target to reduce Cdiff by
30% and a zero tolerance approach to healthcare staff that don't
follow hand hygiene rules.
The Cleanliness Champion Programme continues to develop. As well
as the generic programme which is available as paper and
online version. There is an online version available for
medicine and dentistry.
Once registered for the online programme you can log into the
programme at www.hai-champions.nes.scot.nhs.uk.
If you opt for the paper version users can find web links and
other resources for the course on this site at www.nes.scot.nhs.uk/hai/champions/links/
Another strand of our work in HAI education is the development
of education programmes to support the Scottish
Management of Antimicrobial Resistance Action Plan 2008.
2008 saw the launch of the Decontamination Education
Programme for Primary Care, which was a joint initiative
between NES and HPS. NES is also working on the educational
elements for endoscope decontamination.
A number of specific tutorials are available these include,
MRSA, and catheter-related blood stream infections.
A flyer detailing our programmes of work is
now available for your information to download and display
locally.