Purpose of the ‘Annual statement’
The Health and Social Care Act 2008: code of practice on the prevention and control of infection and related guidance requires the Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Lead to produce an annual statement. This statement should be made available for anyone who wishes to see it, including patients and regulatory authorities and should also be published on the General Practice website.
Introduction
This Annual statement has been drawn up on in accordance with the requirement of the Health and Social Care Act 2008: code of practice on the prevention and control of infections and related guidance for. It summarises:
- Infection transmission incidents and actions taken
- IPC audits undertaken and subsequent actions implemented
- Risk assessments undertaken and any actions taken for prevention and control of infection
- Staff training
- Review and update of IPC policies, procedures and guidelines
- Antimicrobial prescribing and stewardship
This statement has been drawn up by
- Claire Dixon – Infection Prevent and Control (IPC) Lead
Infection transmission incidents
Provide details of infection transmission incidents (which may involve examples of good practice as well as challenging events), how they were investigated, any lessons learnt and changes made as a result to facilitate future improvements.
Significant events (SEA) may involve examples of good practice, as well as challenging events. These events are investigated in detail, to see what can be learnt, and to indicate changes that might lead to future improvements. All SEA are reviewed in regular meetings and learning is cascaded to staff.
In the past year, there has been one learning event related to infection control, which posed risk to clinical staff with an over-filled sharps bin. This event was discussed as a team and weekly checks of bins were added to clinical room checks
IPC Audits and actions
The Annual Infection Prevention and Control audit was completed by Hannah Maguire and Bekah Dovey on the 23rd of April 2025
Privacy screen curtains have been renewed in all the clinical rooms
Clinical waste is now disposed of in tiger stripe bags, except for treatment rooms, which continue to use orange bags, as they are more likely to have infectious waste.
One examination couch was replaced due to wear and tear
Another couch was reupholstered due to a tear in the fabric.
All chairs for clinicians have been replaced, and comply with infection control guidelines
All staff are offered an annual flu vaccine
Weston House Practice will continue to undertake the following audits
Infection prevention and control audit
Hand hygiene audit
Sharps Audit
Cold chain audit
Risk Assessments
Annual (water) legionella risk assessment. The practice has reviewed its water safety risk assessment to ensure the water supply does not pose a risk to patients, visitors or staff.
The policy has been reviewed
Cleaning specification, frequencies and cleanliness. We have a cleaning specification and frequency policy, which our cleaners and staff adhere to. An assessment of cleanliness is conducted by the cleaning team and logged. This includes all aspects in the surgery, including cleanliness of equipment
Staff training
All staff receive annual training in infection prevention and control
IPC leads attend meetings arranged by the ICB and attend an annual update.
IPC Policies, procedures and guidance
All infection prevention and control related policies are in date for this year. Policies relating to infection prevention and control are available to all staff and are reviewed and updated annually, and all are amended on an ongoing basis as advice, guidance and legislation changes.
Antimicrobial prescribing and stewardship
One of our clinical pharmacists is conducting an antimicrobial audit, and the findings will be presented to all members of the clinical team
Forward plan/Quality improvement plan
| Issue | Actions | Date for completion | Person responsible | Progress |
| Patient waiting room and consultation room chairs not all compliant with IPC, due to fabric and wear and tear | Replacement chairs have been ordered | January 2026 | Business Manager | In progress |
Forward plan/Quality improvement plan review date:
An infection control will be conducted annually- Next due April 2026
Monthly and quarterly audits will be conducted by the nursing team, and any areas for improvement will be communicated to the Practice manager and IPC lead