Infection Prevention and Control

Purpose  

This annual statement will be generated each year in August, in accordance with the requirements of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 Code of Practice on the prevention and control of infections and related guidance. The report will be published on the organisation’s website and will include the following summary: 

• Any infection transmission incidents and any action taken (these will have been reported in accordance with our significant event procedure) 
• Details of any infection control audits carried out and actions undertaken 
• Details of any risk assessments undertaken for the prevention and control of infection
• Details of staff training 
• Any review and update of policies, procedures and guidelines  

Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Lead 

The lead for infection prevention and control at The Coppice and Angmering Medical Centre is Louise Trotter Nurse Manager, who is supported by Rebekah Eames, Practice Nurse.

The IPC lead is supported by Dr Jeremy Mayhew, Clinical Governance Lead and Surgery Partner, and Jon Walsh, Practice Manager.

a. Infection transmission incidents (significant events) 

Significant events involve examples of good practice as well as challenging events.

Positive events are discussed at meetings to allow all staff to be appraised in areas of best practice. 

Negative events are managed by the staff member who either identified or was advised of any potential shortcoming. This person will complete a Significant Event Analysis (SEA) form which commences an investigation process to establish what can be learnt and to indicate changes that might lead to future improvements.

All significant events are reviewed and discussed at several meetings each month. Any learning points are cascaded to all relevant staff where an action plan, including audits or policy review, may follow. 

In the past year, there have been nil significant events raised which related to infection control. There has been one complaints made regarding cleanliness or infection control, however this was not upheld after investigating. 

b. Infection prevention audit and actions 

The last Annual Infection Prevention and Control audit was completed by Rebekah Eames in August 2024.

As a result of the audit, the following things have been changed at The Coppice and Angmering Medical Centre:

• To include IPC training, at Induction, for all staff
• To have cleaning schedules for clinical rooms on display
• Clinical couch waiting to be repaired in Nurses treatment room
• Waste bins in patient toilets labelled
• Plans in place to replace carpeted areas, in clinical rooms, with hard floorin
• Portable sink now in use in Hot room
• Coppice site cleared of clutter in hallway
• Clinell wipes now in every room, in a wall dispenser

The last waste audit was carried out by Anenta in April 2025 and was deemed overall low risk with advice to:

• Ensure that Clinical Waste Containers are labelled in accordance with the relevant regulatory requirements. 
• Ensure that the appropriate waste segregation is in place and that bins are available and used for each waste stream.
• Reiterate training on waste handling and segregation.
• Add, change or re-position posters at each bin outlining segregation requirement by waste type (What waste type should go in what bin type and what waste types not)

An audit on hand washing was last undertaken in May 2024.

The Coppice and Angmering Medical Centre plan to undertake the following audits in 2025-26:

• Annual Infection Prevention and Control audit
• Cleaning audit
• Hand hygiene audit
• Annual clinical waste audit
• Quarterly sharps bin audit
• Weekly cleaning spot checks

c. Risk assessments  

Risk assessments and/or inspections are carried out or reviewed 6 monthly or annually.

• Legionella (Water) Risk Assessment: The practice has conducted/reviewed its water safety risk assessment to ensure that the water supply does not pose a risk to patients, visitors, or staff. The Practice Manager carries out monthly water checks.
• Immunisation: As a practice we ensure that all our staff are up to date with the vaccinations required according to their role. All staff are offered seasonal influenza and Covid vaccinations. We take part in the National Immunisation campaigns for patients and offer vaccinations in house and via home visits to our patient population.
• Curtains: The NHS Cleaning Specifications state the curtains should be cleaned or if using disposable curtains, replaced every 6 months. To this effect we use disposable curtains and ensure they are changed every 6 months. The window blinds are very low risk and therefore do not require a particular cleaning regime other than regular vacuuming to prevent build-up of dust. The modesty curtains although handled by clinicians are never handled by patients and clinicians have been reminded to always remove gloves and clean hands after an examination and before touching the curtains. All curtains are regularly reviewed and changed if visibly soiled

Cleaning specifications, frequencies, and cleanliness: We have a cleaning specification and frequency policy to which our cleaners and staff work. An assessment of cleanliness is conducted by the cleaning team supervisors and logged. This includes all aspects in the surgery including cleanliness of equipment. The Practice Manager conducts a monthly audit of areas of the surgery for cleanliness. 

Hand washing sinks: The practice has clinical hand washing sinks in every room for staff to use.

d. Training 

In addition to staff being involved in risk assessments and significant events, at The Coppice and Angmering Medical Centre, all staff and contractors receive IPC induction training on commencing their post. Thereafter, all staff receive refresher training annually.

e. Policies and procedures

The infection prevention and control-related policies and procedures that have been written, updated or reviewed in the last year include, but are not limited, to: 

Infection Prevention Control Handbook for England

Policies relating to infection prevention and control are available to all staff and are reviewed and updated annually. Additionally, all policies are amended on an ongoing basis as per current advice, guidance and legislation changes.  

f. Responsibility

It is the responsibility of all staff members at The Coppice and Angmering Medical Centre to be familiar with this statement and their roles and responsibilities under it.  

g. Review 

The IPC lead and Jon Walsh (Practice Manager) are responsible for reviewing and producing the annual statement. 

This annual statement will be updated on or before August 2026.

Signed by  Louise Trotter, for and on behalf of The Coppice and Angmering Medical Centre