REDUCING HEALTHCARE-ASSOCIATED INFECTIONS (HCAI) IN RENAL MEDICINE

Healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs) cause unnecessary pain and suffering and have a negative impact across the UK hospital’s renal units. HCAIs reduce patient confidence, add to a patient’s length of hospital stay, they increase prescribing costs and reduce overall efficiency. Reducing HCAIs will make renal medicine safer.

As a Government priority, the Department of Health (DH) working with the British Renal Society (BRS), is bringing together the renal community to explore how improvements can be made to achieve better infection prevention and control across renal units. A new High Impact Intervention (care bundle) for renal dialysis care and DH published guidelines on Safer Practice in Renal medicine (endorsed by the BRS), has been developed. Go to www.dh.gov.uk/reducingmrsa to see all the new tools for renal medicine and wider HCAI improvement.