Legal Aspects of Health and Safety by Bridgit Dimond

Author:Bridgit Dimond
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Health and Safety (Act 1974), Employers and employees duties, Occupiers’ liability – visitors and trespassers, Corporate manslaughter, Consumer protection, Control of substances hazardous to health (COSHH), Medical devices, Reporting of Injuries and Dangerous Occurrences (RIDDOR), HIV/AIDS, Risk Management, Clinical Governance, Manual Handling, Stress and bullying, Violence, Smoking, Whistle blowing, Compensation
ISBN: 9781856424646
Publisher: Andrews UK Limited 2013
Published: 2013-07-01T00:00:00+00:00

Each intervention is supported by relevant research evidence of its efficacy.

National standards of cleanliness for the NHS

In 2002, the NHS Estates within the Department of Health published a guide for national standards of cleanliness for the NHS (NHS Estates 2002). This publication enables hospital staff to monitor and improve the cleaning services. In a commentary on the national standards for cleanliness, Castledine (2002) notes the emphasis on the nurse’s role in ensuring that things get done and that audit is carried out and that hospitals improve their cleanliness, and welcomes the return to one of the most important aspects of hospital nursing care.

Testing of staff

The battle to reduce HAIs and control the level of cross-infection in hospitals is likely to remain at the forefront of Department of Health strategic planning. As part of this strategy, the Department of Health announced, on 2 January 2003, draft guidance for carrying out health checks for new health care staff for serious communicable diseases in order to provide greater protection for patients (Department of Health 2003a). Those new staff whose jobs involve exposure-prone procedures (EPPs) (e.g. surgery, obstetrics and gynaecology, dentistry and midwifery) will have to test negative for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis B and C before taking up such a post. Other new staff whose work does not involve EPPs will also be offered testing for hepatitis C and HIV. All new staff are already tested for hepatitis B and tuberculosis screening. (For further details on protection of staff and patients from HIV see Chapter 16.)

Developments in tackling MRSA

New MRSA figures were published in July 2004 by the Department of Health and Health Protection Agency (Department of Health 2004a) which showed that reports of MRSA infections had increased by 3.6 percent in the last year, being the third year in which mandatory surveillance for monitoring MRSA had been in place. At the same time a report from the National Audit Office (2004) was published in which the NAO concluded that the implementation of its recommendations published in 2000 had been patchy. The NAO accepted that the priority given to infection control had increased but concluded that despite some local improvements in information, the NHS still lacked sufficient information on the extent and cost of hospital acquired infection and further action was required using a range of approaches to change staff behaviour to reduce its risks. The NAO considered that the increased throughput of patients to meet performance targets had resulted in considerable pressure towards higher bed occupancy which is not always consistent with good infection control and bed management practices.

In the light of this information, the Secretary of State for Health announced new initiatives to tackle MRSA and hospital-acquired infection (Department of Health 2004b). Towards Cleaner Hospitals and Lower Rates of Infection envisaged a campaign for action based on the following principles:

Being open with the public.

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