Managers
Managers of health and social care settings have a particular responsibility to ensure that the care setting is safe for patients, service users, visitors and members of staff. They do this by ensuring that an up-to-date infection control policy is written up and includes the roles and responsibilities of all staff in relation to the prevention of infection and what to do if there was an outbreak of infectious disease.They also need to produce reports regularly that describes that the systems in place for prevention and control of infection are working properly and are taken seriously. For example, risk assessments, incidences of infection and how they were dealt with and staff training. (Mitchie.V, Baker.L,2008).
Specialist Health workers
Specialised care workers, such as infection control nurses have a particular responsibility to ensure that the organisation’s infection control policies and safe practice procedures are up-to-date and carefully monitored. They all send their staff on training so that they are fully prepared for the job they are about to take on. Another important responsibility is to give advice and guidance on infection and control issues, such as how to manage an outbreak of infection. (Mitchie.V, Baker.L,2008).
Doctors are another kind of specialist health workers and they have very important jobs. They Visit regularly and frequently and have a regular time for reviews. They are also encouraged to have individual and ward treatment policies available and accessible for out of hour’s medical cover. Doctors need to be aware of the potential for many types of abuse of dependent and difficult patients and be involved in plans and training for prevention, recognition and management of abuse. Their main role is to diagnose and treat infection diseases and health associated infections. They also have to notify the Environmental Health Officer work for local authorities and give advice to people about certain diseases and infection. For example, how someone should go about if they suffer from diabetes.
Environmental Health officers
These kind of care workers, use specialist technical skills and knowledge to maintain and safeguard standards relating to people’s health and wellbeing, ensuring that people have a better quality of life and live within a healthier society. Environmental protection involves creating, improving, monitoring, implementing and enforcing public health policy. (www.prospects.ac.uk). They are responsible for giving advice and support on food safety and hygiene, inspecting food premises and enforcing food safety legislation and investigating reported outbreaks of food and water-bourne infectious diseases. (Mitchie.V, Baker.L, 2008).
Health protection units (HPUs)
There are a number of HPUs in different parts of the country, for example in London there are 4. Each of these units have a particular leader, which leads the group, consultants who are specialists in infectious diseases, nurses and other staff with specialist training (such as health protection skills) whose joint responsibility helps support local organizations on all matters of health protection and infection control. (Mitchie.V, Baker.L,2008). Their main role is to do research into the causes of outbreaks of infection and make suggestions to the government of how to prevent these future outbreaks. This research includes looking at patterns of disease in other countries, since outbreaks of fairly serious diseases such as, swine flu can be brought back to the UK. (Ayling.P, 2007).
Non-care workers
Non-care workers are those that who are employed outside the natural immediate care environment. They can make an impact on infection prevention through either direct or indirect contact with the care environment and the people who work within it. If at some stage, the non care workers come in contact with people in their work place, they will need to know any safety measures that they should take, for example, if a client has some sort of infectious disease. (Ayling.P, 2007).
In many organisations, it is important for any clerical staff to be aware of potential hazards which could harm their health. This is because, administrations assistants have contact with individuals while taking their personal details, so being made aware of any potential hazards, means they can report it following the admission procedure.
Visitors
Visitor’s have a responsibility to help prevent the spread of infection and the workers within the environment should encourage them to comply with hygiene policies and procedures. This includes;
- Wearing clean clothes
- Washing and drying your hands when appropriate
- Talk to someone in charge if they have any queries about the cleanliness of the environment.
Bibliography
Ayling.P, (2007), Infection Prevention and Control, Heinemann Ltd, UK
Michie.V, Baker.L,( 2008), Btec national diploma health and social care book 2, Nelson Thornes, UK
Nolan.Y,(2001), Care S/NVQ Level 3, Heinemann, UK
Stretch.B, Whitehouse.M, (2007), Btec National Diploma Health and Social Care Book 2, Heinemann Ltd, UK
Boys and Janet McAleavy, 2008, Btec national diploma health and social care book 2, Nelson Thornes, UK
