Preventing infection

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Please do not attend our emergency department at Southampton General Hospital if you have a minor injury. If you need urgent, non-emergency care, please visit Royal South Hants Urgent Treatment Centre or Lymington Urgent Treatment Centre.

Infection prevention and control

We take the prevention and control of infection very seriously, and are committed to reducing healthcare associated infections.

Over the past few years our Trust has adopted a range of proactive measures to prevent healthcare associated infections, including:

• focusing on improving hand hygiene by adopting national and local campaigns, including visual prompts and hand hygiene stations prominently positioned at entrances to the hospital and ward areas
• raising the profile of infection prevention throughout the Trust and at Board level
• training staff on infection prevention and hand hygiene
• focusing on high standards of cleanliness - our modern matrons oversee the cleaning of clinical areas, and regular audits are carried out to make sure high standards are being maintained
• screening of emergency and elective patients to protect against MRSA.

Our infection prevention department

The infection prevention department is made up of nursing staff and microbiologists, and is closely supported by the consultant pharmacist in anti-infectives, laboratory and administrative staff.

We provide advice and support on all aspects of infection prevention and control, and work with hospital staff to ensure that patients who are identified as having an infection are assessed and cared for effectively. Our infection prevention nurses provide education and training, and we have an annual programme of awareness raising and events.

Our team is involved in developing policies and guidelines, and making sure they are put into practice. This includes promoting the Trust's antibiotic guidelines, ensuring antibiotics are used wisely.

We're also committed to learning from incidents, ensuring that infection related incidents and outbreaks are fully investigated and actions put in place to make sure similar incidents don't happen again.

Contact us

Call us on 023 8120 4672 or email InfectionControlTeam@uhs.nhs.uk.