Regulating for better care
This is our first case study in the Regulating for better care series. This series looks at improvement in care across health and social care settings following action by the Commission.
Our focus for this edition is how ambulance trusts have made improvements in the area of infection prevention and control after being inspected.
Background
As part of the drive to reduce rates of infections, the Government introduced a regulation on infection control and associated guidance in 2009. Every NHS trust providing healthcare, including ambulance trusts, must now be registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) based on their compliance with this regulation.
CQC, for the first time, has inspected every ambulance trust in the country based on the requirements of this regulation.
When we inspected all eleven ambulance trusts to check that people were protected from healthcare-associated infection, we found that:
- four trusts were in breach of the government regulation to protect people from infection
- six had areas that needed improvement.
In our follow up inspections we've found many trusts have have made swift changes following an inspection.
Driving improvements
Here are three case studies that highlight how ambulance trusts have managed to make significant improvements even after receiving a warning.
Case study: Positive impact
Paramedic Ian Fazakerley explains how their CQC inspection has positively impacted on their approach to infection control. Read the case study.
Case study: Making improvements after receiving a warning
North West Ambulance NHS Trust Medical Director Kevin Mackway- Jones explains how receiving a warning notice led to swift improvements. Read the case study.
Case study: Changing the culture of infection control within an organisation
West Midland’s Ambulance Service NHS Trust operations manager Tim Hughes explains how their inspection has helped to positively change the culture of infection control within their organisation. Read the case study.
Warnings - they work
In this group of inspections, we found that proportionate enforcement action delivered results, especially where warning notices were issued, because:
- it highlights the seriousness of an issue and the urgency of changes required;
- draws the issue under public scrutiny;
- could lead to further enforcement action if changes are not made – possibly in the form of fines, prosecution, or altered registration status.
We also found that issuing warnings can generate enthusiasm for change. Some assessors saw a rekindling of peoples pride in their work on follow up visits, which was at the forefront of the positive changes they saw.
Our message for all providers of care is that maintaining infection prevention and control practices across an organisation takes hard work; constant vigilance and lots of energy.
“For each inspection, we’d like to come away from the trust with assurance that they are meeting the regulation. We don’t aim to ‘catch people out’. It’s about checking that patients are getting the level of care they deserve.” CQC Lead Assessor.
The full story
Download our PDF for the full story (PDF, 45KB, opens in new window)
