Infection, prevention and control (IPC)

The NHS has an IPC code of practice, which under The Health and Social Care Act 2008 will apply to registered providers of all healthcare and adult social care in England. The code of practice (part 2) sets out the 10 criteria against which the Care Quality Commission (CQC) judge a provider on how it complies with the cleanliness and infection control requirement.

Compliance against the code of practice (part 2) is monitored through the Infection, Prevention and Control Management policy and associated annual audit programme as defined in the IPC Audit Policy schedule.

The cleanliness of all our vehicles is monitored monthly and reported to the Trust Board. We also conduct a range of additional audits at different intervals throughout the year, these including;

• hand hygiene at the point of care (in accordance with WHO 5 moments principles)
• between patient journey
• and ambulance station housekeeping.

Health and Social Care Act 2008: code of practice on the prevention and control of infections and related guidance