Specimens Policy

Policy Statement

{{org_field_name}} believes that adherence to strict guidelines on infection control is of paramount importance in ensuring the safety of both people receiving care and staff.

Aim

The aim of the home is to prevent and manage the spread of infections amongst people who use the service, staff and visitors.

Goals

The goals of the home are to ensure the following.

People receiving care, their families and staff working at the home are as safe as possible from infections.
All staff at the home are aware of the causes of the spread of infection and are trained to avoid these.

Personnel

_________________________________ is the Infection Control Lead for the home.

Legal Considerations

This care service will adhere to all relevant legislation, including:

the Health and Safety at Work, etc Act 1974
the Public Health Infectious Diseases Regulations 1988
the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (COSHH).

Under the above legislation, and associated codes of practice, {{org_field_name}} understands its legal and moral duty to ensure the health and safety of both staff and people receiving care and to protect them, wherever practicable, from dangerous substances in the workplace, including the risk of transmission of infections.

Regulation

{{org_field_name}} recognises that it must comply with the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 in order to meet its legal requirement for registration with the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

With respect to infection control, the home understands that a range of regulations may apply, including:

Regulation 12: Safe Care and Treatment — this requires providers to assess the risk of, and prevent, detect and control the spread of, infections, including those that are healthcare associated
Regulation 15: Premises and Equipment — this states that premises and equipment must be clean, suitable for the purpose for which they are being used, properly used and properly maintained.

Guidance for Providers on Meeting the Regulations, published by the CQC in March 2015, provides guidance on how this service should comply with the regulations.

Guidance

{{org_field_name}} seeks at all times to comply with evidence-based best practice in infection control, particularly with the Health and Social Care Act 2008 Code of Practice on the Prevention and Control of Infection and Related Guidance published by the Department of Health and Social Care (the Hygiene Code). The home understands that in England compliance with this guidance is an effective way to help it to meet its regulatory requirements with the Care Quality Commission under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.

In addition, the home will comply with all other relevant best practice infection control guidance.

For instance, applicable guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) includes:

CG139: Healthcare-associated Infections: Prevention and Control in Primary and Community Care (updated February 2017)
PH36: Healthcare-associated Infections: Prevention and Control (November 2011).

Guidance is also available from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Authority (MHRA) in the form of:

Infection Prevention and Control (IPC): Resource for Adult Social Care, DHSC
Prevention and Control of Infection in Care Homes: An Information Resource (2013), DHSC
HSG220 Health and Safety in Care Homes (2nd edition) (2014), HSE.

Specialist advice and support will be obtained from the local public health protection team and from relevant primary healthcare teams.

Policy Background

It is sometimes necessary for a clinical specimen to be collected from a person who uses the service for analysis as part of a medical examination. For example, in certain circumstances, in the event of an outbreak of diarrhoea (with or without vomiting), it is essential to obtain stool samples as soon as possible. The sooner the sample is obtained, the higher the chance of identifying the organism causing the outbreak.

Policy on Handling and Storing Specimens

{{org_field_name}} understands that in nursing or residential adult social care settings the implementation of sound infection control techniques, especially rigorous attention to handwashing, and a thorough cleaning of the environment and equipment, are the most effective ways to control the spread of infection.

Therefore, in {{org_field_name}} the following applies.

Care home managers should ensure that specimens (eg faeces and urine) are collected only upon the request of the person’s GP and only if the appropriate paperwork and collecting receptacle is available.
Specimens should be collected only by appropriately trained and competent care staff, who should follow the home’s set procedures.
Staff in the home should be encouraged to treat all specimens with equally high levels of caution and as potentially infectious.
Specimens should be labelled clearly and packed into self-sealing bags before being stored in a designated clinical fridge prior to being taken to the GP or hospital.
Specimens should be stored in a fridge designated for clinical use and never in a fridge used for storing foodstuffs.
Non-sterile gloves should be worn when handling specimen containers, and hands should be washed afterwards.
To speed the collection of stool samples in urgent situations the home will keep an “outbreak” kit ready. The kit should contain stool sample receptacles, tagged plastic transport bags, laboratory forms (to be completed once sample is obtained) and disposable gloves.
The Infection Control Lead for the home will carry out a risk assessment of the risks of handling specimens and will keep this assessment under regular review. The findings of each review will be recorded and control measures indicated by the assessment will be fully implemented and communicated to all staff.
All staff who perform duties such as collecting and handling specimens that could expose them to risk will be given adequate information about the risks and how to minimise them and ensure their own safety. The information will include the immediate steps to be followed upon contamination with blood or other body fluids.
All staff must comply with all infection control policies and procedures and adhere to best practice in infection control at all times.
All staff should comply with the home’s handwashing policy at all times. The home considers scrupulous handwashing before and after any contact with people who use the service and before and after any procedure to be the single most important control measure to prevent the spread of infection.
Blood and body fluid spills should be dealt with immediately according to the home’s cleaning of spillages policy.
Clinical waste containing blood or bodily fluids should be disposed of according to the home’s infection control policy.
Sharps waste should be managed in compliance with the home’s use of sharps policy and disposed of into proper sharps containers. Where possible, the use of sharps will be minimised and safer alternatives implemented.
Clothes and bedding fouled with blood or body fluids should be machine-washed separately from standard laundry at a high temperature, in accordance with the home’s infection control and laundry policies.
Any incidents involving exposure to blood and other body fluids, or near-misses where exposure was narrowly averted, will be recorded using an incident form and reported. The Infection Control Lead will investigate reports and complete an annual audit of incidents.
Where necessary, reports will be made to the Care Quality Commission or the Health and Safety Executive under RIDDOR.
Any incident where a member of staff has been or is suspected to have been exposed to possible infection from blood or other bodily fluids should be reported immediately to the person in charge, who should refer the person to a GP, occupational health or accident and emergency department as necessary, based on an assessment of urgency or severity. All incidents should be followed up by the occupational health service.

Local health protection team contact details are as follows:

_________________________________

Training

All new staff should be encouraged to read the policies on infection control as part of their induction process. In-house training sessions covering basic information about infection control should be conducted at least annually and all relevant staff must attend. Clinical staff and those with special responsibilities for infection control and risk assessment should also be offered additional advanced training in infection control.

Any member of care staff whose duties include the collection of specimens will be trained in the correct procedure.

_________________________________ is responsible for organising and co-ordinating training.

Responsible Person: {{org_field_registered_manager_first_name}} {{org_field_registered_manager_last_name}}

Reviewed on: {{last_update_date}}

Next Review Date: {{next_review_date}}

CH312. Specimens