Infection control training for nursing home staff

Infection control training for nursing home staff

The Public Health Agency’s (PHA) Health Care Associated Infections (HCAIs) Team held a training and information session for local Nursing and Residential home staff in the Southern area on Monday, 6 September. The training addressed the importance of implementing the cleanyourhands hand hygiene campaign and provided expert advice on the management of HCAIs.

During these sessions, the PHA team updated staff on current best practice guidance to support the management of Clostridium difficile (C Diff) infections and focussed on the main messages included in Phase 2 of the cleanyourhands campaign which was launched by the PHA earlier this year.

Dr Lourda Geoghegan, Consultant in Public Health (Health Protection) for the PHA said: “The training highlights the importance of hand hygiene, provides best practice guidance on the management of C Diff and reinforces the message that good hand hygiene is absolutely vital in the prevention of infection. Staff are being reminded that the benefits of the simple act of washing your hands should not be underestimated, and that by just taking a minute to stop and clean your hands, you are making a vital contribution to the prevention and control of infections.”

“These training and information sessions are being run across NI and the HCAI team will be supported locally by Health Protection Nurses and Community Infection Control Nurse colleagues.”


Dr Patrick Loughran, Medical Director for the Southern Health and Social Care Trust said: “Infection prevention and control continues to be one of the Trust’s highest priorities. Over the past year we have seen a continued decrease in healthcare associated infections like C.difficile. We have introduced a range of measures to prevent healthcare associated infection including the cleanyourhands campaign, an ongoing programme of deep environmental cleaning and continued training and awareness raising of infection control procedures.

“We welcome the training from the Public Health Agency to support us in our drive against healthcare associated infection in both hospital and community settings.”

Further information

Contact the PHA press office on 028 9031 1611.