Infection Control & Prevention | Phoenix Hospital Group

Infection Prevention and Control Team

The Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) team work with all grades and disciplines of the staff within Phoenix Hospital Group to promote the health and safety of patients, staff and visitors. This is achieved by minimising or eliminating the risk of transmission of infection. Our work includes:

Infection prevention and control advice

Education of staff

Single occupancy patient rooms

High nurse patient ratio

Management of infection

Audits

Surveillance

Development and implementation of IPC policies, procedures and guidelines

Liaison with facility services department on issues related to hospital building and maintenance and future developments within the hospital

To date the Weymouth Street Hospital and Phoenix Hospital Chelmsford are proud to have had no recorded cases of MRSA or C diff since we opened in 2010.

Hand Hygiene

Our doctors, nurses and all other staff who may examine you, or help care for you, are trained in the correct hand washing procedure to minimise the risk of infection. Hand foam dispensers are also available in all public areas, consulting rooms and inside each patient room. Visitors are reminded to use these sanitisers on entering and exiting the hospital. It is also important for patients to wash their hands before meals and after using the toilet. If you cannot get to a wash hand basin for any reason, please ask one of your nurses for assistance.

MRSA Screening Programme

Approximately 40% of the population carry an organism called Staphylococcus Aureus, usually found in the nose, throat and folds of the skin. MRSA (Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus) is simply a variant that has become resistant to some commonly used antibiotics.

Generally, MRSA causes no problems but very occasionally, if MRSA gets into a surgical wound or a break in the skin of someone who is not in the best of health, it can cause an active infection. Even in these situations, however, there are still antibiotics that we can use.

At the Weymouth Street Hospital and Phoenix Hospital Chelmsford, we have a screening programme in place, where each patient admitted for an overnight stay is risk assessed for carriage of MRSA. This will happen at the Pre-assessment stage and the nurse may ask you to attend the hospital to have a simple swab taken from the nose. The results are then available the next day. This helps us to identify potential infection risks, provide treatment where appropriate and adopt the necessary precautions to avoid the transmission of MRSA within our hospital.

Visitors

Healthy people are not at risk of getting infections or spreading infections by visiting the hospital. Visitors should, however, be encouraged to clean their hands before and after visiting and should not visit the hospital if they have an infection themselves, such as colds, flu, vomiting or diarrhoea. If in doubt, they should speak to the nurse in charge. Please discourage visitors from sitting on your bed and from using the en-suite bathroom in your room. There are toilet facilities available in each ward/department for visitors to use.

If you have any questions regarding infection control while in hospital please speak to your nurse in charge who will advise you accordingly.

Book a full-body* preventative cancer MRI screening today!

Infection Control

Infection Prevention and Control Team

Hand Hygiene

MRSA Screening Programme

Visitors

Make an Enquiry