Developing infection control services within primary care

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to discuss the provision and development of infection control services within primary care during a time of significant change. This will be aided by describing how the use of audit can assist in identifying areas of priority within an under-resourced service.

There have been many changes in the provision of infection control services within primary care since the restructuring of health authorities and the introduction of Primary Care Trusts (PCT) and Health Protection Units (HPU). These changes in service provision have provided a timely opportunity to address the need for adequate infection control services for all areas outside of acute hospital care. The funding and organisation of the infection control services for primary care has been an issue of debate for a significant period of time.

When services are inadequately resourced the need to prioritise activity based on risk is apparent. The use of audit can provide a basis for assessing the main areas of risk. An audit undertaken within a primary care setting, which involved GP practices, identified such priorities requiring infection control input. However the staffing resource available at that time was insufficient to subsequently address the issues identified in a proactive manner.

Infection control services have developed significantly within the acute health care Trusts with infection control teams expanding to include nurse consultants, and audit and surveillance nurses. The primary care environment now needs to follow this model if patients are to receive consistently high standards of care across healthcare boundaries.