Shropshire’s two acute hospitals given top rating for Infection Prevention and Control

The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH) has received the highest grade for infection control following a recent inspection by NHS regulators.

The Trust improved its position to ‘Infection Prevention Level Green’ - the highest of three assessment gradings - after a visit from NHS England & NHS Improvement (NHSE/I) in October.

Dr Debra Adams, NHSE/I’s Head of Infection Prevention and Control for Midlands and East, visited clinical areas at the Princess Royal Hospital in Telford and the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and inspected medical and surgical wards, and the emergency departments.

Dr Adams noted that: “The visit demonstrated a continued focus and energy on infection prevention. This was identified both during the meetings and the clinical visits to the six clinical areas across the two sites.

“There is improved engagement with staff across the organisation. Confirm and challenge meetings have been set up and have proven beneficial.

“The Trust has been assessed as Green on the NHSE/I internal escalation matrix.”

Janette Pritchard, Lead Nurse for Infection Prevention and Control at SaTH, said: “We are proud to achieve the green rating from our regulators. This result is evidence that infection prevention procedures are in place and demonstrates the considerable commitment all staff have in working towards protecting patients, visitors and colleagues from avoidable infection.

“We’ve worked really hard with the ward teams, matrons and head of nursing to put infection control at the top of the agenda. We’ve improved surveillance and have regular assurance audits to help wards understand where they could improve. They’ve all been brilliant on taking ownership of infection control on a daily basis.”

Barbara Beal, Director of Nursing, Quality and Midwifery at SaTH, said: “This feedback from the visit is as a result of trust-wide effort and dedication to promote good infection prevention practice. I’d like to share my thanks to all those who have contributed to this result.”