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MRSA in Domiciliary Care Policy

{{org_field_name}} believes that having effective infection prevention and control policies and procedures in place is of paramount importance in ensuring the safety of both people who use the services and staff from the spread of infectious diseases such as Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA).

Goals

The goals of the service are to ensure that:

Policy Background

MRSA is a variant of Staphylococcus Aureus, a type of bacterium carried normally by about a third of the population. In most people, Staphylococcus Aureus causes no harm, however, when the skin is broken or where a patient is otherwise unwell the bacteria can cause boils or pneumonia and can prevent wounds from healing properly. MRSA behaves in much the same way as its more common relative but, while Staphylococcus Aureus is readily treatable with modern antibiotics, MRSA has a high resistance to antibiotics which makes MRSA infections much harder to treat.

Many people carry MRSA in the same way that they carry Staphylococcus Aureus without it causing any harm to themselves or others. These are said to be “colonised” with MRSA rather than “infected” as they are not ill and there are no visible signs that they are carrying MRSA. However, when MRSA does cause an infection this can be very dangerous, even life threatening, and is especially problematic in elderly or vulnerable patients who are debilitated.

In healthcare settings, MRSA is spread by hand from person to person unwittingly by healthcare employees who do not wash their hands sufficiently between person contacts. It can also become established in clinical areas, on equipment and in such things as bedding and clothes and extremely vigorous cleaning and infection control techniques are required to eradicate it or halt its growth.

Legal Considerations

{{org_field_name}} will adhere to all relevant legislation, including:

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 who use the services and to protect them, wherever practicable, from dangerous substances in the workplace, including the risk of transmission of infections.

Guidance

This agency 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 organisation 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.

Key guidance to ensure compliance with the Hygiene Code is understood to include Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Resource for Adult Social Care, updated in April 2024 by the DHSC and applicable to domiciliary care as well as care homes.

In addition, the agency 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:

Specialist advice and support will be obtained from the local public health protection team.

Policy on Preventing MRSA

In healthcare organisations, MRSA carriers should not be a hazard to staff or other people who use the services and, according to Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) guidelines, the implementation of sound infection control techniques, especially rigorous attention to handwashing, are sufficient to control the spread of the bacteria.

Therefore, in this agency:

If a person is identified as colonised with MRSA:

When arranging care for a new person receiving care or when transferring people to or from hospital:

Local health protection team contact details are as follows:

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Reporting

MRSA is not a notifiable infection under RIDDOR which obliges the agency to report the outbreak of notifiable diseases to the Health and Safety Executive. The presence of MRSA in a person can only be ascertained by the laboratory investigation of swabs and any positive result will be notified to the person’s GP. Domiciliary care managers should therefore liaise with the GP if a positive result is received and should work with all relevant members of the healthcare team to revise the person’s plan of care and to ensure that everybody involved in the care of the person is informed.

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 on infection control.


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}}

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