Addendum for General Practice: Community IPC Policy Folder and Preventing Infection Workbook
In relation to COVID-19, please always refer to latest national guidance on infection prevention and control produced by Public Health England, www.gov.uk/government/collections/coronavirus-covid-19-list-of-guidance. This information is continually evolving.
Please note that NHS England and NHS Improvement published new guidance ‘Standard infection control precautions: national hand hygiene and personal protective equipment policy’ March 2019, https://improvement.nhs.uk/resources/national-hand-hygiene-and-personal-protective-equipment-policy/. They have increased the elements of the ‘Standard infection control precautions’ (SICP) from 7 to 10:
- Hand hygiene
- Patient placement/assessment for infection risk [new SICP]
- Personal protective equipment
- Respiratory and cough hygiene [new SICP]
- Safe disposal of waste (including sharps)
- Safe management of blood and body fluids
- Safe management of care equipment
- Safe management of linen
- Safe management of the care environment [new SICP]
- Occupational safety/managing prevention of exposure (including sharps)
All the above elements of the ‘Standard infection control precautions’ are incorporated within our existing Community Infection Prevention and Control Policies and Workbook with the exception of ‘Respiratory and cough hygiene’. As an interim measure, we have produced a ‘Respiratory and cough hygiene Poster’ which is available at www.infectionpreventioncontrol.co.uk/resources/respiratory-and-cough-hygiene-poster. We will be updating our resources in-line with this new Guidance.
Please make all users of the Policies and Workbooks aware of this change.
Download: Addendum GP COVID-19 and SICPs A5
