Environmental Decontamination: Stages & When to Implement

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In a healthcare setting, “environmental decontamination” refers to the process of thoroughly cleaning surfaces as part of effective infection prevention and control.

In this post we’ll discuss the various stages of environmental decontamination in hospitals and healthcare settings and explain when these should be implemented.

The Role of Environmental Decontamination in Infection Prevention and Control

Staff and patients carrying communicable diseases can shed pathogens in a number of ways. These pathogens can survive on surfaces for hours, days, and even months.

In this way, contaminated surfaces can contribute to the person-to-person transmission of pathogens in healthcare settings. This presents a serious risk for certain high-risk patients, including the elderly, the immunocompromised, and the immunosuppressed.

Patients from high-risk groups may be more likely to contract infections from contaminated surfaces. And if they do pick up an infection, they’ll be more likely to experience severe symptoms.

While manual cleaning can contribute to infection prevention and control, if the cleaning agent itself becomes contaminated with pathogens, then the cleaning process could actually contribute to the spread of infection. Environmental decontamination goes beyond surface level cleaning. It’s a strategy for removing and destroying infectious pathogens and contaminants.

The Three Stages of Environmental Decontamination

  1. Cleaning
  2. Enhanced cleaning
  3. Disinfection

Stage 1: Cleaning

The cleaning stage of the environmental decontamination process involves physically removing dirt, dust, and other contaminants from surfaces.

In most healthcare settings, cleaning should take place at least once a day.

Using a combination of mops, brushes, cloths and detergents, cleaning will remove the sort of organic matter from surfaces on which pathogens can take hold. However, it is unlikely to eliminate potentially harmful microorganisms entirely.

As such, cleaning might suffice for items and surfaces that will not come in direct contact with the patient.

Stage 2: Enhanced Cleaning

Some infection prevention and control procedures will call for enhanced cleaning processes. This might simply extend to an increased frequency of fundamental cleaning processes. Or it may call for the use of more specialised disinfectants or equipment.

In some areas of the hospital, such as an operating theatre, enhanced cleaning procedures may take place as a matter of course as part of a wider infection control protocol. Otherwise, enhanced cleaning might be recommended as a response to an outbreak of a communicable disease (such as norovirus); or as part of a containment response to a spillage (of bodily fluids, or chemicals etc.)

Stage 3: Disinfection

Enhanced cleaning may remove microbes and pathogens, but it will not necessarily kill them. Manual disinfection can actively reduce the levels of infectious agents in the area.

As with enhanced cleaning, disinfection may extend to simply making use of specific disinfectant agents as advised. And as with enhanced cleaning, disinfection might be standard practice in some healthcare settings, or it might be recommended as part of the response to a specific event.

For example, any surface contaminated with bodily fluids, such as blood or diarrhea, will require disinfection. Cleaning and enhanced cleaning processes will first serve to make the area visibly clean. Meanwhile, manual disinfection will serve to remove as many lingering microbes as possible.

Different Decontamination Procedures for Medical Equipment

As the name suggests, environmental decontamination is all about removing pathogens from the healthcare environment. This might involve floors, surfaces, windows, items of furniture, and so on.

When it comes to medical equipment – particularly items that might come into contact with a patient’s mucous membrane – healthcare workers must consider three separate levels of decontamination: cleaning, sterilization, and disinfection.

All medical equipment and devices will have different risk levels depending on how frequently they’re used, and where they’re used. This risk level will determine the level of decontamination required, and how often the decontamination procedure should take place.

Read our full guide to the three levels of decontamination for medical devices.

Essential Support for Effective Environmental Decontamination

We stock a full range of highly effective hospital cleaning and disinfectant products, including the powerful Virusolve+ range of wipes and concentrates. Browse our complete range of infection control products.

With our hospital-grade air purifiers we can also help you reduce the levels of airborne pathogens in your hospital, along with other potentially hazardous pollutants, such as VOCs, inhalable dust, and particulate matter. Browse our range of air purification solutions for healthcare settings.

How Does Infection Spread in a Hospital?

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In this post we’ll discuss how infections spread in hospitals and explore some ways you can prevent and control infections in your hospital.

Ways Infections Spread in Hospitals

Most hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) spread in one of two ways:

  • As a result of treatment.
  • From person-to-person, or via another communicable disease vector (pathogens on a surface, or in the air, for example).

You can read our guide to the most common hospital-acquired infections.

How Infections Spread as a Result of Treatment

Some hospital-acquired infections can spread as a direct result of certain medical treatments.

Examples include:

  • Surgical Site Infections (SSIs) – Invasive procedures involve making incisions in a patient’s skin. Though such procedures are performed in highly controlled sterile environments, it’s possible for incision wounds to get contaminated by microorganisms from the patient’s own body, or from outside sources.
  • Clostridium difficile infections (CDIs) – diff bacteria can exist harmlessly in the bowel. But a course of antibiotics can sometimes cause a bacterial imbalance in the gut, triggering a CDI.

How Communicable Diseases Spread in Hospitals

A patient or a member of staff might bring an existing infection into a healthcare setting such as a hospital. Or a patient may develop an infection during their hospital stay while receiving treatment for an unrelated condition.

These are communicable diseases, and they can spread in a number of ways:

  • From Person-to-Person – Coughs, sneezes, and even touches can spread viruses and bacteria from person to person. CDI, for example, is a common hospital-acquired infection because a major symptom is diarrhoea, which can act as a vector for the spread of bacteria. And of course, during the 2020 pandemic it became clear just how quickly Covid-19 can spread from person-to-person in a hospital.
  • Indirect Contact – Viruses, bacteria, and other pathogens can survive for hours, or even days, on surfaces and inanimate objects. A patient may cough or sneeze into their hand. If they then use a doorhandle or a light switch, any staff member or patient who subsequently touches that item may pick up their germs. And if they then touch their mouth, nose, or eyes, they may introduce the germs into their bloodstream.
  • Contamination – Finally, eating or drinking contaminated food or water can spread communicable diseases. E. coli, for example, is a common hospital-acquired infection, and it can be contracted from eating undercooked meat.

How To Prevent The Spread of Diseases in a Hospital

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) issued recommendations that could help prevent SSIs in hospitals. These include a series of steps for the preoperative phase (including showering and nasal decolonisation), recommendations for staff and patient theatre wear, and a series of checks to make both before and after the procedure. Read the full NICE guidelines for preventing SSIs here.

When it comes to controlling communicable diseases, hospitals must follow the standard infection control precautions (SICPs):

These include:

  • Patient placement – Perform a comprehensive infection risk assessment for each patient, and isolate patients with a high risk of cross-infection.
  • Hand hygiene – Follow a specific hand-washing technique to thoroughly clean your hands at key touchpoints – such as before and after interacting with a patient and their surroundings. Also advise patients to follow good hand hygiene guidelines and provide plenty of handwashing stations throughout your hospital.
  • Personal protective equipment (PPE) – There should be clear procedures for what PPE to use and when. You should also have procedures for storing, applying, removing, and disposing of PPE.
  • Cleaning – Commit to safe management of both care equipment and the care environment. Thorough cleaning should take place regularly and on an ongoing basis. You should also have specialist procedures for cleaning, disinfection, and sterilization in the event of outbreaks, and for high-risk equipment and environments.

Read our full guide to standard infection control precautions in hospitals and healthcare settings.

Control the Spread of Hospital-Acquired Infections

At Cairn Technology, we’ve been helping both NHS and private hospitals prevent and control infections for over 20 years.

We can help you with:

To discuss how we can help you prevent and control infection in your hospital, get in touch to talk to one of our friendly experts today.

 

How To Manage an Outbreak of Infection in a Care Home

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Any outbreak of infection in a care home must be considered a high-priority issue. Infections can easily spread in any location where people share facilities, and care home residents are high-risk groups: If they develop an infection, they’re more likely to experience severe symptoms.

What is an Outbreak?

The NHS defines an infectious disease outbreak as “when there are more people with the disease than you might normally expect.” There may be a different criteria for declaring an outbreak depending on the setting. When it comes to COVID-19 in a care home setting, for example, the NHS recommends declaring an outbreak when “there are two or more staff, residents, or visitors testing positive within 14 days of each other.”

If you don’t take steps to control an outbreak, the number of people infected could increase rapidly. This will have a huge impact on staff and resident wellbeing, and on the quality of care you’re able to deliver.

When is an Outbreak Over?

The NHS advises that you can declare an outbreak as over when 28 days pass without any new cases of the infection. Again, this advice is specific for COVID-19, but you can use a similar criteria for other infectious diseases in a care home.

What Are The Most Common Infections in Care Homes?

COVID-19 remains a major risk for care homes. But you must treat any outbreak of any infection just as seriously.

More than 50% of all care home infections can be linked to:

  • The influenza virus
  • Norovirus
  • Salmonella
  • Streptococcus Pyogenes

Read our full guide to the most common infections in care homes.

How To Manage an Outbreak of Infection in a Care Home

You should have dedicated policies and procedures covering your response to infection outbreaks in your care homes. These documents should be easily accessible for all staff, and you should review them periodically to ensure they reflect current risk levels and best practice guidance.

Your policy should include:

  • A list of the most common infections in care homes, along with some of the symptoms to look out for.
  • A definition of an “outbreak”. At what point will your outbreak response plan come into effect? Also define at what point you can declare that the outbreak’s passed.
  • Immediate response – what are the most critical steps to take once you’ve declared an outbreak? Think about who you’ll inform, how you’ll inform them, and what you’ll tell them. You’ll have to brief staff, inform residents, and contact their relatives too.
  • High-risk residents – some residents might have existing conditions that make them particularly vulnerable to infection, or they might be immunosuppressed or immunocompromised.
  • Your outbreak response policy should outline how you’ll shield your most high-risk residents, such as through zoning infected residents elsewhere in the care home and temporarily restricting any time spent in shared spaces.

Staff Training for Managing Outbreaks

Your staff should receive specialist training in managing outbreaks. The training should include:

Resident Zoning and Isolation

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, it became common practice to isolate any patients who might be carrying an infection risk, to reduce the chances for the infection to spread from person-to-person. Similarly, any staff members testing positive were advised to self-isolate.

Your care home infection outbreak response policy should consider resident zoning and isolation. Ideally, you should have single rooms available for emergency quarantine. And in the event of an outbreak, you should carry out an infection risk-assessment for every resident, reserving your emergency isolation and zoning procedures for the most high-risk individuals.

At the same time, you need to consider your residents’ physical and psychological wellbeing. How can you continue to deliver a high quality of care even while they’re in isolation? How will you keep the resident and their visitors informed throughout their quarantine? And crucially, how long will the isolation last? At what point will they be able to safely mix again with the rest of the care home population?

For more information, and for actionable tips for managing outbreaks in your care home, be sure to read the latest Department of Health and Social Care and Public Health England guidance on infection control in care homes.

Cleaning

Cleaning is an essential part of infection prevention and control. Pathogens can survive on surfaces for hours, or even days. So regularly cleaning your care home environment can significantly reduce the risk of cross-infection.

You should already have cleaning policies and procedures in place for your care home, outlining where to clean, how to clean it, what products to use, and how often to do so. Your cleaning policy should pay particular attention to any area of your care home where residents share facilities, along with any area where food is prepared or consumed.

In the event of an outbreak, you should implement even more robust cleaning procedures. This might involve carrying out more regular cleaning or switching to using specialist cleaning products that can kill viruses and bacteria on surfaces.

Be sure to read our full guide to effective environmental decontamination for infection control.

Air Purification

As well as lingering on surfaces, the viruses and bacteria that cause infections and outbreaks in care homes can also be airborne.

Good air filtration can actively contribute to infection prevention in care homes, while helping to prevent the spread of infection during an outbreak. Air filtration can even help prevent the spread of COVID-19. One study found that an air filtration system successfully removed almost all traces of the airborne virus in a quarantine ward.

Our range of HealthProtect air purifiers are specifically designed for healthcare facilities such as care homes. They can deliver complete air filtration every 12.5 minutes, trapping and killing up to 99% of viruses and bacteria – including those responsible for all of the most common outbreaks in care homes.

We can advise on effective infection outbreak management in your care home. As well as supplying specialist healthcare air purifiers, we also stock a full range of infection control products, including the Virusolve+ range of one-step cleaner, sanitiser and disinfectant solutions.

Get in touch to discuss care home infection outbreak management with one of our friendly experts.

The Most Common Hospital Acquired Infections

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In this post we’ll discuss some of the most common hospital acquired infections and explore the impact they can have on patient outcomes.

What is a Healthcare Associated Infection (HAI or HCAI)?

Healthcare associated infections (HAI, or HCAI) are infections staff and patients contract through spending time in healthcare settings such as GP surgeries, care homes, and hospitals.

Some of these infections can develop as a direct result of healthcare treatment. Others are communicable diseases, and can develop and spread from person-to-person, or when staff or patients come into contact with pathogens in the air or on surfaces.

The Most Common Hospital Acquired Infections

Surgical Site Infections (SSIs)

Surgical site infections (SSIs) may comprise up to 20% of all hospital acquired infections, with at least 5% of surgical patients developing a wound infection following their procedure.

They usually occur when surgical incisions are contaminated by microorganisms from the patient’s own body, though it’s also possible for patients to develop SSIs from outside sources.

Examples of SSIs include:

  • aureus
  • Salmonella
  • Shigella
  • Klebsiella
  • coli

SSIs can be life-threatening for patients, yet even mild infections can prolong hospital stays considerably. This can leave patients vulnerable to other hospital acquired infections while also creating a significant financial burden for the hospital. And when the NHS is facing such a huge backlog, anything that delays a patient’s hospital discharge should be considered a major issue.

Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA)

Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) is a form of pneumonia, a respiratory tract infection. The infection results in lung inflammation and a build-up of fluid that can cause breathing difficulties.

All patients are vulnerable to this sort of infection, though young children and elderly patients are most at risk. Hospital-acquired pneumonia affects 0.5% to 1.0% of hospitalised patients, and it’s the most common hospital-acquired infection contributing to death.

MRSA is just one of the viruses and bacteria that can lead to hospital-acquired pneumonia. Other examples include Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, and certain fungi. Pneumonia acquired in hospital settings can be particularly serious, as the bacteria and viruses involved can be resistant to antibiotics.

Clostridium Difficile

Clostridium difficile infections (CDIs) can lead to diarrhoea, high temperatures, low appetite, nausea, and stomach pains. Though C. diff bacteria is usually among the harmless bacteria that lives in the bowel, certain antibiotic treatments can cause a bacterial imbalance in the gut, which can trigger an infection.

As diarrhoea is a major symptom, it’s very easy for the bacteria to spread from person-to-person in a healthcare setting such as a hospital. It’s for this reason that CDIs are among the most common of all hospital-acquired infections, affecting over 100,000 patients across Europe every year.

Sepsis

Sepsis is a clinical syndrome that can be triggered by the presence of a bacterial, viral, or fungal infection. The body may respond to an infection in a way that damages its own tissues and organs, which can lead to low blood pressure and life-threatening organ dysfunction and failure.

The UK Sepsis Trust estimates that there could be up to 250,000 cases of sepsis in the UK each year. It is one of the most common causes of death among hospitalised patients in intensive care units (ICUs).

So sepsis might not be a hospital-acquired infection in itself. However, it’s a serious condition that can develop as a result of other hospital-acquired infections, including pneumonia, urinary tract infections, bowel perforations, and skin infections.

Covid-19

Since 2020, hospitals have contended with an additional threat posed by severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-VoC-2, or COVID-19).

One report found that, during the pandemic, more than 40,600 people were likely infected with Covid-19 while being treated in hospital in England for another reason.

Hospitals and other healthcare settings implemented strategies to prevent the spread of Covid-19 among inpatients. Some of these infection prevention and control practices may also help to prevent the spread of other hospital-acquired infections. However, this total focus on one condition may have given other pathogens an opportunity to thrive.

Controlling the Spread of Hospital-Acquired Infections

Every member of staff should follow a series of practices to reduce the risk of infection. These are known as Standard Infection Control Precautions (SICPs). You can read our full guide to SICPs.

At Cairn Technology, we’ve been helping both NHS and private hospitals prevent and control infections for over 20 years. Our solutions include:

Want to discuss how we can help you control infections in your hospital? Get in touch to talk to one of our friendly experts today.

What is Infection Control in Care Homes?

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When it comes to infection, elderly people and other care home residents are high-risk groups. This means that, if they catch an infection, they’re more likely to experience severe symptoms.

This isn’t the only reason why infections are a major concern in care homes. Infections can easily spread in any setting where people share facilities. Plus, given how vulnerable residents are to infection, any outbreak is likely to lead to mass hospitalisation. The health service is already overburdened and facing a serious backlog. An outbreak in a care home could place further strain on a system that already seems stretched to breaking point.

What is Infection Control in Care Homes?

Infection control in care homes means taking the time to understand the common infections, and how they’re spread, before acting to prevent this spread as much as possible. In this post, we’ll explore some of the key principles of infection control in care homes.

What Are The Most Common Infections in Care Homes?

The most common infections in care homes include:

  • Flus and colds
  • Norovirus and other stomach bugs
  • Salmonella

And of course, care homes must now contend with seasonal variants of Covid-19. Care homes were hit particularly hard throughout the 2020 pandemic. And though the latest variants are not as deadly as the initial few, they still present a significant risk to care home residents.

Read our full guide to common infections in care homes. This guide also explores, in greater depth, the link between care home outbreaks and hospital bed shortages.

An Essential Introduction to Infection Control in Care Homes

Infection control in care homes begins with understanding the common infections and their symptoms. Some care home residents may be unable to communicate that they’re feeling bad. Others might be unwilling to discuss their health, as they might not want to make a fuss. It might be up to you and your staff to spot infections, and to act accordingly.

So look out for some key symptoms of the most common care home infections:

  • Coughs, sneezes, and runny noses.
  • Breathing difficulties.
  • Irritated eyes.
  • Skin conditions, including rashes and blisters.
  • Vomiting and nausea.
  • Shivering (which could indicate a fever).
  • Loss of appetite and low energy levels.

Invest in Staff Training

Every member of staff should be able to spot the signs of infection. They should also have a thorough understanding of how infections spread, as this will help them adopt measures that can help prevent the spread.

In short, coughs and sneezes spread infections directly. But infectious diseases can also spread in indirect ways – such as when two residents use the same utensil, or item of furniture. Read our full guide to how communicable diseases spread.

Infection Control Policies and Procedures

Your care home should have dedicated policies and procedures in place for managing infections. These should be in writing, and they should be reviewed routinely, and easily accessible to all members of staff.

Here are some things you should include in your infection control policies and procedures:

  • Reporting – If a member of staff suspects they’ve spotted an infection, what immediate action should they take? Who should they report to, and what can they do in the short-term to reduce the risk of cross-infection?
  • Cleaning – As viruses and bacteria can linger on surfaces for hours, stringent cleaning procedures are an essential part of infection control in care homes. Your policy should outline the specific cleaning procedures for every area of your care home, paying particular attention to any area where residents gather and share facilities, and any area where food’s prepared and served.
  • Zoning – You may have to isolate any residents who catch an infection, to reduce the risks of cross-infection. Your policy should outline how you manage this process. How will you inform the resident? How will you continue to deliver the same quality of care during their quarantine? And how will you inform their friends and relatives?
  • Personal protection equipment (PPE) – Your policy should outline what sort of PPE your staff wear, and when they wear it. It should also define procedures for storing PPE, and for both applying it and taking it off to reduce the risk of cross-infection. Read our introduction to appropriate PPE use.

Hand Hygiene and Cough & Sneeze Etiquette

Finally, there are two strategies that both staff and residents can adopt to prevent and control infections in care homes:

  • Hand Hygiene – Staff should thoroughly wash their hands at numerous key points: before interacting with a resident, after interacting with a resident, and after handling any potentially contaminated items. Residents too can be encouraged to wash their hands as often as possible, including before meals and after using the toilet.
  • Cough and sneeze etiquette – Staff should encourage residents to cover their noses and mouths whenever they need to sneeze or cough. You could provide ample tissues, with lots of bins so that residents can “catch it, bin it, kill it.” And of course, you should encourage residents to wash their hands immediately after coughing or sneezing.

Support For Infection Control in Care Homes

At Cairn Technology, we specialise in supporting healthcare settings, including care homes, deliver effective infection prevention and control policies.

Here’s how we can help you stop the spread of infectious diseases in your care home:

Want to talk about how we can help prevent infections and improve the air quality in your care home? Get in touch to talk to one of our infection control experts today.

 

Three Levels of Decontamination For Infection Control

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In this post we’ll explore each of these levels of decontamination in turn, discussing the procedures involved, and when they’d apply in a hospital or healthcare setting.

What Are The Three Levels of Decontamination For Infection Control

There are three levels of decontamination for infection control:

  • Cleaning
  • Sterilisation
  • Disinfection

Healthcare Equipment Risk Levels

All healthcare equipment carries a different level of contamination risk, and this level determines the appropriate decontamination procedure:

  • Low Risk – Items that will only come into contact with intact skin, or which will not come into contact with the patient at all. Examples include furniture, floors, bedding, clothing, and IV pumps.
  • Medium Risk – Items that will come into contact with the patient’s intact mucous membranes. Also, items that are likely to be contaminated with virulent or transmissible organisms, and any item that might be used on an immunocompromised patient.
  • High Risk – Items that will penetrate a patient’s skin or mucous membrane, or enter the vascular system. Also, any item taken into a sterile space must be considered high risk.

Cleaning is usually sufficient for decontaminating low risk items. Medium risk items will have to be either disinfected or sterilised before use. High risk items need to go through the complete process – cleaning, disinfection and sterilisation.

When Should Medical Decontamination Procedures Take Place?

Reusable medical equipment should be decontaminated after it’s been used on a patient, and before it’s used on another patient. Following decontamination, equipment should be labelled and dated to confirm that it’s clean and ready for use.

Different departments might have to follow different cleaning procedures and protocols, depending on the sort of patients they treat, and the sort of treatments they carry out. An operating theatre, for example, will have to follow much more stringent cleaning procedures than a waiting room.

Also, decontamination is just one of 10 standard infection control precautions (SICPs) that hospitals and healthcare settings should follow. Read our full guide to the 10 SICPs.

Cleaning

Cleaning is the lowest level of decontamination, but it’s still vitally important for preventing and controlling infection. It essentially involves using a mix of water, detergents, and friction to remove dirt and organic matter from surfaces and objects.

Cleaning removes microbes, but it doesn’t necessarily kill them. So any object that might be used as part of an invasive procedure will have to be disinfected or sterilised after being cleaned.

To be considered “clean”, all visible signs of soiling must be removed. Medical equipment should be “visibly clean” before it’s ready for use.

We have detailed guides to cleaning procedures suitable for different areas of the hospital:

Disinfection

Disinfection involves using chemicals, heat, or UV radiation to reduce the number of microbes on an object. While disinfection won’t remove every microbe on an object, it can reduce the number of microbes to a level at which they do not pose an infection risk.

Items must be clean – that is, “visibly clean” – before they’re ready for disinfection.

Standard disinfection procedures do not kill spores. Sterilisation is necessary to remove spores from an object.

Sterilisation

Sterilisation processes can remove all microbes from an object, including spores. It involves making use of chemicals such as ethylene oxide or hydrogen dioxide, or specialist equipment, such as an autoclave.

In order for an item to be considered “sterilised”, then all microbes must have been removed or destroyed. And as with disinfection, items must be thoroughly cleaned before they’re sterilised.

For more information about the three levels of decontamination, and how they might apply in practice in a healthcare setting, take a look at this official NHS guidance.

Effective Decontamination For Infection Control in Hospitals

We stock a full range of highly effective hospital cleaning and containment products, including the powerful Virusolve+ range of wipes and concentrates. Browse our complete range of infection control products.

The chemicals used in decontamination procedures can be toxic. So hospitals must comply with the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Regulations wherever these chemicals are used.

An air quality consultation will help you identify the exposure risks for staff and patients alike. Following the consultation, you’ll get a detailed report and actionable advice on the measures you can take to improve the air quality in your hospital.

A hospital grade air purifier can help you quickly and thoroughly improve the air quality in your hospital or healthcare setting. Our Blueair HealthProtect air purifiers are fitted with advanced HEPASilent technology. This is capable of catching 99.97% of particles down to 0.1 microns.

Take a look at our specialist air purification systems for hospitals.

Communicable Diseases & Examples of How to Prevent Spread

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In this post we’ll discuss some of the most common communicable diseases in the UK, with some examples of how patients and practitioners can help prevent their spread.

What is a Communicable Disease?

A communicable disease is any disease that can be passed from person to person, or from an animal to a person. They are disorders caused by organisms including viruses, bacteria, fungi, or parasites. People might also refer to communicable diseases as infectious diseases, or transmissible diseases.

What is a Non-Communicable Disease?

A non-communicable disease is a condition that cannot be passed from one person to another, or from an animal to a person. Examples include asthma, diabetes, and high blood pressure.

Common Communicable Diseases in the UK

  • Colds, flus, and Coronavirus
  • Norovirus
  • Sexually transmitted infections, including gonorrhoea, chlamydia, HIV and AIDS.
  • coli and salmonella
  • Hepatitis
  • Measles

How Do Communicable Diseases Spread?

Most communicable diseases spread via direct contact with a person or animal carrying the infection. Coughs, sneezes, kisses, touches, and sexual contact can spread viruses and bacteria from person to person. Communicable diseases can also spread from animals to humans through bites or scratches, or through handling animal waste.

Diseases can also spread via indirect contact. Viruses and bacteria can linger for hours, or even days, on inanimate objects such as doorknobs or toilet seats.

Finally, contaminated food and water can also spread communicable diseases. You can contract E. coli bacteria from eating undercooked meat, for example.

How to Prevent The Spread of Communicable Diseases

We all have a part to play in preventing the spread of communicable diseases.

Here are some steps that everyone can take to stop the spread of many common infectious diseases:

  • Get vaccinated. Vaccinations are available for most of the common infectious diseases. If you’re particularly at risk of certain infections, talk to your doctor about recommended vaccinations for you. For example, elderly people and other at risk groups can choose to take the annual flu vaccine to drastically reduce their chance of catching and spreading an infection.
  • Wash your hands. Develop good hand hygiene habits. It’s particularly important to wash your hands before and after preparing or eating food, and after using the toilet.
  • Practice cough and sneeze etiquette. Catch it, bin it, kill it. If you need to cough or sneeze, do so into a handkerchief, and immediately dispose of it afterwards. If you don’t have a handkerchief, cover your mouth or nose with your hands or elbow, then immediately wash your hands afterwards.
  • Stay home when you’re unwell. If you experience any of the common symptoms of communicable diseases, including coughs, sneezes, fever, nausea, diarrhoea, and skin rashes, then stay at home. Don’t go to work or school until your symptoms have cleared.

Preventing The Spread of Communicable Diseases in Hospitals and Healthcare Settings

Hospitals and healthcare settings must follow the standard infection control precautions (SICPs) to prevent the spread of communicable diseases.

These include:

  • Patient infection risk assessments, and isolating patients with a high risk of cross-infection.
  • Good hand hygiene – following a specific hand-washing technique to ensure as thorough a clean as possible.
  • Use of personal protective equipment (PPE), with separate procedures for what PPE to use and when.
  • Safe management of care equipment and care environment, including thorough cleaning, disinfection and sterilization procedures.

Read our full guide to standard infection control precautions in hospitals and healthcare settings.

We Can Help You Prevent The Spread of Communicable Diseases in Your Hospital or Healthcare Setting

We stock a full range of highly effective hospital cleaning and containment products, including the powerful Virusolve+ range of wipes and concentrates. Browse our complete range of infection control products.

A hospital grade air purifier can help you quickly and thoroughly improve the air quality in your hospital or healthcare setting. Our Blueair HealthProtect air purifiers are fitted with advanced HEPASilent technology. This is capable of catching 99.97% of particles down to 0.1 microns.

Take a look at our specialist air purification systems for hospitals.

 

Infection Control Procedures in Care Homes

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Certain types of viral and bacterial infection are common in care homes, and infection is a major concern for care home patients.

The Department of Health and Social Care and Public Health England issued guidance on infection prevention and control in care homes.

This guidance is available as a comprehensive 102-page document, or as a 16-page summary. In this post we’ll provide a brief overview of the official government guidance for infection control procedures in care homes. We’ll also discuss some ways you can improve the procedures in your care setting.

Understand the Chain of Infection

The chain of infection refers to the process by which a care home resident might acquire an infection:

  • The person at risk – All care home residents are at risk of infection. But some may be suffering from pre-existing conditions, and others may be immunocompromised. So some residents may be higher risk than others.
  • The organism – Virus, bacteria, and fungus, including influenza, norovirus, Covid-19, and MRSA.
  • The reservoir – The vessel or vector that could host the organism, including humans, animals, surfaces, equipment, and food and drink.
  • Transmission – How the organism moves from one host body to a reservoir, including vomiting, sneezing, etc. As well as thinking about how an organism leaves a body, think about how it enters the body too – via inhalation, breaks in skin, or through mucous membranes (eyes, nose, mouth).
  • Spread – How the organism spreads across the care home setting. Some organisms are spread via hand contact, while others are airborne.

Standard Infection Control Procedures

The government guidance advises a “simple, consistent and effective” approach to infection prevention and control in care homes.

This includes:

You can read our complete guide to standard infection control procedures for healthcare settings.

5 Moments for Hand Hygiene

The government guidance defines five key moments when care home staff should carry out hand hygiene.

These are:

  • Before touching a resident.
  • Before carrying out any clean or aseptic procedures.
  • After any body fluid exposure risk. For example, after a resident sneezes in your vicinity.
  • After touching a resident.
  • After touching a person’s surroundings.

Patient Zoning and Isolation

Any patients carrying an infection risk may need to be isolated to prevent further infections. This became common practice in all healthcare settings during the 2020 pandemic, when any patients who tested positive for Covid-19 were placed separately from other patients.

The guidance advises making single rooms available for this purpose. It also stresses the need to consider the resident’s physical and psychological wellbeing. Keep the resident and their visitors informed both verbally and in writing. And ensure their environment contains hand hygiene facilities and, ideally, ensuite toilet and bathroom facilities.

Air Purification Systems for Care Homes

The government guidance on infection prevention and control in care homes is primarily focused on helping care home staff understand the risks of infection. It encourages care home staff to recognise infection risks, and act to contain them before they spread. But it also recommends policies, procedures and precautions to help make infections less likely from taking hold in the first place.

The guidance acknowledges that many infections that can spread through care home settings are airborne. Good air filtration can therefore make a huge difference in preventing and controlling even the most serious of infections in care homes. For example, one University of Cambridge study found that an air filtration system in a Covid-19 ward successfully removed almost all traces of the airborne virus.

Our range of air purifiers can make a huge difference in care homes and other residential care settings. They can trap up to 99.97% of particles down to 0.1 microns, and up to 99% of viruses and bacteria. This includes those microorganisms responsible for all of the most common outbreaks in care homes.

Want to talk about how we can help prevent infections and improve the air quality in your care home? Get in touch to talk to one of our air purification experts today.

Immunocompromised vs Immunosuppressed – Is There a Difference?

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What’s the difference in meaning between immunocompromised and immunosuppressed?

Both terms refer to deficiencies in the normal function of the immune system. So whether a person’s immunocompromised or immunosuppressed, their body’s will be less effective at fighting off infections.

But what’s the difference between these two terms?

What’s The Difference Between Immunocompromised and Immunosuppressed?

Both terms refer to essentially the same thing – that a person has a weakened immune system. So some people might use these terms interchangeably, but the difference between the two is why someone’s immune system is weak; whether it’s a result of a medical condition or medication.

Generally speaking:

  • Immunocompromised people have a weakened immune system as a result of another health condition.
  • Immunosuppressed people have an immune system that’s been weakened intentionally as a result of medication or other treatment.

What Does Immunocompromised Mean?

This usually means that a health condition is affecting a patient’s ability to fight infections. Examples of conditions that can affect a patient’s immune system include HIV, cancer, diabetes, malnutrition, and some genetic disorders.

What Does Immunosuppressed Mean?

When people use this term, they usually refer to a condition that’s been induced deliberately. Doctors may prescribe patients with immunosuppressant drugs for a variety of reasons, which we’ll discuss below.

Why Is Immunosuppression Deliberately Induced?

There are many reasons why a doctor might intentionally suppress a patient’s immune system, via medication or other procedures:

Doctors can induce immunosuppression with medication. But they can also induce it with radiation treatment (such as chemotherapy), plasmapheresis (the removal and treatment of blood plasma), and certain surgical procedures (such as a splenectomy, the removal of the spleen).

But when a patient’s received immunosuppressive treatment, they become immunocompromised, indicating that their immune system is less effective at fighting infection.

This is why these two terms are regularly confused, and often used interchangeably – because when a patient is immunosuppressed, they become immunocompromised. And a patient may be immunocompromised as a result of immunosuppressants.

How to Make Hospitals and Healthcare Settings Safe For Immunosuppressed and Immunocompromised Patients

Infection is a risk for anyone who spends any time in a hospital, whether they’re staff, patients, visitors, contractors, or other members of the public. But the risk of infection is particularly acute for immunocompromised patients. Due to their weakened immune systems, any infection they contract has the potential to be life-threatening.

Following the Standard Infection Control Precautions will help keep healthcare environments safe for immunocompromised patients. These include:

Addressing Airborne Infection Risks

A hospital grade air purifier can help you quickly and thoroughly improve the air quality in any area of your hospital where immunocompromised patients may receive treatment.

Our Blueair HealthProtectTM air purifiers are fitted with advanced HEPASilent technology. These are capable of catching 99.97% of particles down to 0.1 microns. This includes the viruses and bacteria which carry the greatest infection risks for immunocompromised patients. Examples of viruses that can be removed include Coronaviruses such as SARS-COV-2 and influenza, which are highly contagious.

Take a look at our specialist air purification systems for hospitals.

 

Examples of Continuity of Care in GP Surgeries

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If you manage or work in a GP surgery, continuity of care can make a huge difference to your patients’ experience and their overall wellbeing.

In this post, we’ll explain what continuity of care is in a GP setting, before exploring some of the policies and procedures that will help you deliver a higher quality of care to your patients.

What Is Continuity of Care?

Continuity of care is a strategy for making primary care local, accessible and familiar. It’s all about building strong and ongoing relationships between GPs and patients. At the heart of continuity of care is the idea that patients should see the same GP as often as possible.

For patients, this means that their care will be personalised, and focused on their unique needs and circumstances.

Continuity of care means that the GP develops a deep understanding of the patient and their medical history. As a result, the GP can make more informed diagnoses, and patients can better trust their GP’s advice and judgement.

Management Continuity

In delivering continuity of care, management continuity is just as important as relationship continuity. This means ensuring effective information sharing and co-ordination of services when a patient receives care from more than one clinician or provider.

On a fundamental level, continuity of care means that a patient will regularly consult the same GP so that they can develop a stronger therapeutic relationship.

Yet continuity of care goes deeper than this. Due to a number of factors, it’s not always possible for patients to see the same GP at every visit. The considerable NHS backlog, coupled with patients’ needs and expectations for fast access, means that patients often need to see whichever GP is available.

What Does Continuity of Care Look Like in Practice?

Here are some principles that can help GP practices work towards continuity of care:

  • Access arrangements – When booking appointments, patients often have to make a choice between seeing their regular GP, or getting a faster consultation. At the front desk, patients should be advised on the benefits of continuity, even if this sometimes means waiting longer for appointments.
  • Transparency – Clinics should be open about the availability of their clinicians for different types of consultation. They should publish the clinic’s policy on continuity of care, and make this policy accessible to staff and patients alike.
  • Consultations – The emphasis should be on quality, rather than quantity. There should be sufficient time in the consultations for the sort of interactions that lead to a productive therapeutic relationship.
  • Management continuity – All healthcare providers make relevant patient information readily available, with established routines for handovers and information exchanges. Providers make personal contact between each other, with proactive follow-ups on patients following procedures or health events.

Should Continuity of Care Still be a Priority?

If the NHS is facing a backlog, and if patients must routinely wait for consultations, does it still make sense to promote continuity of care?

As part of a 2010 inquiry into the quality of general practice in England, The King’s Trust conducted a consultation of continuity of care and the patient experience.

Their consultation found that the strong therapeutic relationships created by continuity of care result in:

  • Increased levels of patient satisfaction.
  • Greater morale among staff at all levels.
  • Reduced costs.
  • Better health outcomes.

So though the current emphasis might be on reducing the backlog, continuity of care may still be the most effective and sustainable strategy for maintaining good care quality standards.

We Can Help You Improve Standards in Your GP Clinic

We offer a range of products, services and solutions that will contribute to better care quality standards in your GP clinic.

Get in touch to discuss how we can help you make your healthcare setting safer and more efficient for staff and patients alike.