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Vol 16 no 51 |
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Final Issue: Volume 16 Number 51 |
Published on: 21 December 2006 |
Final Issue in PDF |
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News Archives
Last updated: Volume 14, No.21 (PDF file, 535 KB)
Archives | News Archives 2004: Page 1 | News 20 May 2004
News Archives: | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003
Chief Executives informed of next tranche of mandatory surveillance for healthcare associated infections
The Chief Medical Officer announced in June 2003 the extension of earlier initiatives in healthcare associated infection surveillance to include mandatory surveillance schemes for orthopaedic surgical site infection and Clostridium difficile associated disease (1,2). This was re-emphasised in the report Winning ways: working together to reduce healthcare associated infection in England, published in December 2003 (3).
The Department of Health recently issued a bulletin to NHS Trust Chief Executives, including details of both mandatory schemes, which will be co-ordinated by the Healthcare Associated Infection and Antimicrobial Resistance Department (HCAI and AMR) of the HPA Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre (4). The full bulletin can be found at: <www.publications.doh.gov.uk/cebulletin29april04.htm>.
If hospitals or facilities require further information on the orthopaedic surgical site infection surveillance, they should contact their regional epidemiologist or contact the HCAI and AMR department for a briefing pack and registration form. The department can be contacted by telephone: 020 8200 6868 ext 4240 or email <ssi@hpa.org.uk>.
If hospitals or facilities require further information on the mandatory surveillance scheme for C. difficile associated disease they should contact their lead regional epidemiologist for this area of work, or Andrew Pearson in HCAI and AMR (tel: 020 8200 6868 ext 7333) email: <Andrew.Pearson@hpa.org.uk>.
References
1.Department of Health. CMO to step up fight against hospital infections. Press Release 2003/0222. London: Department of Health, Monday 9 June 2003. Available at <www.dh.gov.uk/PublicationsAndStatistics/PressReleases/fs/en>.
2.Chief Medical Officer. Surveillance of Healthcare Associated Infections. PL/CMO/2003/4. London: Department of Health, 9June 2003. Available at <www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot/04/01/34/10/04013410.pdf>.
3.Department of Health. Winning ways: working together to reduce healthcare associated infection in England. A report by the Chief Medical Officer. London: Department of Health, 2003. Available at: <www.doh.gov.uk/cmo/idstrategy/index.htm>.
4.Department of Health Chief Executive Bulletin 24 - 29 April 2004. Issue 216. London: Department of Health, 2004. Available at <www.publications.doh.gov.uk/cebulletin29april04.htm>.
5.
National Clostridium difficile Standards Group Report to the Department of Health. J Hosp Infect 2004; 56 (Suppl 1): 1-38.
Clinical action cards for general practitioners in England
The Health Protection Agency has introduced a set of symptom-based clinical action cards, designed for general practitioners (GPs) in England, to help them recognise unusual symptoms caused by chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) hazards, and some emerging diseases. The cards, funded by the Department of Health, are produced by the Agency's Emergency Response Division, and are endorsed by the Royal College of General Practitioners.
The cards, titled New diseases, new threats, have been developed in response to requests from the medical profession for more detailed training in how to recognise new and unusual symptoms. They make up part of a range of training resources produced by the Agency, on behalf of the Department of Health, for GPs and other healthcare professionals, as part of the Agency's remit to help health professionals respond to CBRN threats. Their response will be vital in determining the Agency's success in containing either an incident involving chemical, biological or nuclear hazards or a newly emerging disease.
The cards request that GPs who encounter patients presenting with symptoms that are unusual or difficult to identify should contact their local Health Protection Team for advice and support, as is already the case with notifiable diseases such as meningitis or tetanus. The cards are divided into sections:
- Severe respiratory symptoms
- Skin lesions (including smallpox, plague, and cutaneous anthrax)
- Symptoms you may never have seen (including liquid mustard, tularaemia, and radiation burns)
Changes to presentation of 'bacteraemia' reports
From this 20 May 2004, reports in CDR Weekly that have previously been listed as 'bacteraemia' will be split into two sections, one for bacteraemia surveillance reports, which include healthcare-associated and community-acquired infections (ie, the existing Bacteraemia web page, still available at <http://www.hpa.org.uk/cdr/pages/bacteraemia.htm>). and one for healthcare-associated infections, including surgical site infections and C. difficile associated disease. The latter is a new section titles Healthcare associated infections, now available at <http://www.hpa.org.uk/cdr/pages/hcai.htm>. Accordingly, a new Healthcare associated infections archive page has been created to store the previously published Healthcare associated infections content, now available at
<http://www.hpa.org.uk/cdr/archives/archive04/hcai04.htm>.
The reports are compiled by the Healthcare Associated Infection and Antimicrobial Resistance Department (HCAI & AMR) department of the HPA Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre. The department is responsible for the national surveillance of healthcare-associated infection and antimicrobial resistance and is involved in a wide range of projects across the spectrum of healthcare-associated infections, from evaluating computer systems for use in infection control settings, to assessment of the burden of healthcare-associated infection in England and Wales. The department also compiles reports from voluntary and mandatory bacteraemia surveillance, for publication in CDR Weekly.
Any queries regarding content reorganisation should be directed to Allison Lee, email <allison.lee@hpa.org.uk> tel: 020 8200 6868 ext: 6463.
