Delivery Plans
The HAI Task Force has completed two delivery plans and has just begun work on implementing the third one. Their achievements so far include the development of a groundbreaking HAI Code of Practice, the development of a National Cleaning Services Specification, the introduction of a national HEAT (Health Efficiency Access Treatment) target for NHS Boards to achieve a 30% reduction in Staph.aureus blood infections by 2010, the implementation of a national Hand Hygiene Campaign and the introduction of educational initiatives such as the Cleanliness Champions programme. These programmes will remain in place over the duration of the third Delivery Plan.
In terms of results, we now know that cleaning standards are better than ever, and the rate of surgical wound infections is going down. Even MRSA infections, one of the most intractable HAI problems for healthcare worldwide, have remained stable in Scotland since 2003 in the face of a patient population which by its nature is increasingly prone to infection. We have also seen major improvements in the supporting structures and specialist staffing levels required for infection prevention and control.
The third Delivery Plan will see the Task Force progressing work in a number of key areas and it will build on its relationship with the Scottish Patient Safety Alliance (SPSA) on patient safety issues. For example, the implementation of a range of Care Bundles, the national tool that the NHS in Scotland will be asked to adopt to deliver an effective package of measures for patients undergoing particular treatments, will be led by the HAI Task Force to meet a number of the key patient safety objectives identified by the SPSA. These care bundles will ensure that patients receive a more consistent provision of 'best practice' care in many areas. Another key patient safety related objective for the Task Force is to continue to develop the area of decontamination (cleaning and sterilisation) of reusable surgical instruments and other medical devices, in order to protect patients from the risks of infection when they undergo surgery.
Other principal targets for the Task Force over the next three years and beyond include reducing skin and soft tissue infections; developing a new Hand Hygiene Campaign; overseeing a pilot MRSA screening programme in three NHS Boards (NHS Ayrshire and Arran, NHS Grampian and NHGS Western Isles) in 2008/2009, rolling out a national MRSA screening programme from 2009/2010 and ensuring that additional surveillance information is gathered and put to practical use in the targeted areas of general medicine and the care of the elderly.