NHS England and NHS Improvement have published a new set of Standard Infection Control Precautions (SICPs) that NHS organisations are expected to adopt and implement.
The national hand hygiene and personal protective equipment (PPE) policy aims to support a common understanding, reduce variation in practise, improve knowledge and skills, reduce the risk of healthcare associated infection and align practice, education, monitoring, quality improvement and scrutiny.
The new national policy is a practice guide for NHS healthcare staff of all disciplines in all care settings. It covers responsibilities for organisations, staff and infection prevention and control teams. It sets out how and when to decontaminate hands and selection and use of PPE.
The policy can be found here.
