Infection Prevention and Control
At EEAST we put infection, prevention and control at the heart of good clinical practice. Basic hygiene and cleanliness are fundamental to deliver safe and effective care for our patients and to maintain a safe working environment for our colleagues.
To deliver this standard, we are committed to ensuring that appropriate resources are allocated for the effective protection of patients, their relatives, colleagues, and members of the public. In this regard, emphasis is given to the prevention of healthcare associated infection, and the sustained improvement of colleague practice and the cleanliness of our vehicles and stations.
Throughout the year, there was a continued response to the COVID-19 pandemic and high numbers of cases were recorded. The EEAST COVID team continued to deliver a track and trace service and identified outbreaks or emerging areas of concern.
There were some months where nearly 600 positive COVID-19 cases were identified, and the proactive approach taken by the COVID team and infection, prevention and control team enabled us to act swiftly and enhanced precautions in areas that were experiencing increased pressure due to COVID-19 and flu sickness.
Throughout the year, the Trust incrementally moved with the national guidance around COVID-19 precautions and testing, and it was considered within the business-as-usual response to seasonal respiratory infections.
Make Ready Services
Our make ready service teams across multiple sites are dedicated to delivering clean vehicles across the Trust, following a comprehensive cleaning schedule.
High vehicle cleaning compliance was achieved throughout most of the year but in the face of extreme unprecedented system pressures, the teams were able to work dynamically and collaboratively across the Trust to address the challenges and regain high compliance.
The make ready service teams continued to expand and became more established across all sites.
The table below shows our compliance rates achieved against our target for 2022/23.
| Target | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Jan | Feb | Mar | |
| Vehicle | 95% | 98% | 98% | 97% | 98% | 96% | 95% | 96% | 97% | 95% | 97% | 97% | 96% |
| Uniform | 95% | 97% | 97% | 96% | 97% | 97% | 97% | 97% | 96% | 98% | 96% | 97% | 98% |
| Premises | 95% | 93% | 94% | 92% | 95% | 93% | 90% | 93% | 92% | 92% | 93% | 94% | 92% |
| Vehicle cleaning | 85% | 85% | 86% | 87% | 84% | 81% | 82% | 83% | 84% | 81% | 87% | 86% | 85% |
The infection prevention control team continued to review best practice in line with national guidance and highlighted where improvements could be made, as discovered through audit and incident reports. Local audits of colleagues, vehicles and premises were also conducted in large quantities by local managers in operational areas.
The compliance against standards throughout the year showed that infection prevention control standards were continually met with most audits achieving the Trust target.
Where audits fell short, the infection prevention control team highlighted areas for improvement and encompassed any themes or trends into the strategy for quality improvement. This required collaborative working and expert communication to drive improvement throughout EEAST.
