SCH117. Immunisation of People in Care Homes
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Immunisation of People in Care Homes (Scotland) Policy
Policy Statement
Infection control is a critical element in the running and management of any care home. Serious infections can be spread if inadequate controls are in place.
The home is acutely aware that infectious diseases can spread easily among people who use the service in a care home — particularly in the winter — with the commonest outbreaks being respiratory illnesses, gastroenteritis, diarrhoea and vomiting.
The protection of people who use the service from such diseases is a key aim of {{org_field_name}}, which expects all its staff and volunteers to adhere strictly to a range of policies relating to the control of infection.
{{org_field_name}}’s policy is in line with the national care standards, My Support, My Life, which require service providers to ensure that their care users experience high quality care and that they have confidence in their care providers. For example, 4.14: “My care and support is provided in a planned and safe way, including if there is an emergency or unexpected event”.
The policy is also in line with all relevant health and safety and public health legislation and clinical guidance for Scotland.
Under this legislation, and associated Codes of Practice, {{org_field_name}} understands its legal and moral duty to ensure the health and safety of staff and people who use the service and to protect them, wherever practicable, from dangerous substances in the workplace, including the risk of transmission of infections.
Applicable guidance from other national bodies to which the policy refers includes:
- CG139: Healthcare-associated Infections: Prevention and Control in Primary and Community Care (updated February 2017), NICE
- 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.
{{org_field_name}} understands that key guidance for care homes in Scotland includes:
- National Infection Prevention and Control Manual (NIPCM), NHS National Services Scotland
- Covid-19 — Information and Guidance for Social, Community and Residential Care Settings (Including Care Homes for Older People Registered with the Care Inspectorate) Version 2.7 (updated November 2023), Public Health Scotland.
Definitions and Theory
{{org_field_name}} understands immunisation to refer to the introduction of a bacterial or viral agent into the body to create immunity against a specific disease, usually by injection. The idea of immunisation is to make the body’s defence system respond to a weakened attack by a disease agent and to produce defence mechanisms in the form of antibodies. These antibodies remain in the body to fight off the disease agents if they are ever encountered again in the future.
Most people are immunised against childhood diseases early in life. In later life, people can access:
- travel vaccinations, given to people travelling to different countries to protect them from common diseases found abroad
- routine vaccinations, given to adults who are at risk of certain infections, eg after injuries or in response to identified epidemics such as influenza.
Every winter, seasonal respiratory illnesses affect people of all ages. For most people, such illnesses are unpleasant and might make them feel ill but usually pass without complications. However, among the elderly and those with at-risk conditions, sickness such as influenza or coronavirus carries an increased risk of serious illness and complications such as bronchitis and pneumonia. These often result in admission to hospital and can even lead to death. In addition to the distress caused by the illness itself, serious seasonal illnesses put pressure on health, social care and other services at an already busy time of year.
It has been clearly demonstrated through research that the incidence of serious illness and death can be reduced by having annual seasonal immunisations. Research has also shown that the incidence of infectious respiratory illness in a care home setting can also be reduced by ensuring that staff also access seasonal immunisation.
Procedure
To fully protect people in {{org_field_name}} from the risks associated with infectious disease outbreaks, {{org_field_name}} will:
- encourage all people in the home to access vaccination where immunisation is recommended by their GPs, including access to the seasonal influenza immunisation programme and the Covid-19 vaccination programme
- respect the decision by any person not to have a seasonal influenza immunisation or Covid-19 vaccination
- ensure that people in the home have sufficient information about vaccinations and Covid-19 vaccines, in particular seasonal flu vaccinations, presented in a way that they can access and understand, so that they are able to make informed decisions about immunisation
- where necessary, ensure that people who use the service are helped to access suitable immunisation services and advice where they decide that they wish to be immunised; this will usually be achieved in collaboration with each individual’s GP
- monitor people who use the service who have had an immunisation for side-effects to the vaccine
- encourage staff to also access seasonal influenza vaccinations and Covid-19 vaccinations where these are available to them
- where expert advice or support is required, {{org_field_name}} manager or Infection Control Lead should confer with the local health protection teams.
Reporting
According to The Health and Social Care Act 2008: Code of Practice for Health and Adult Social Care on the Prevention and Control of Infections and Related Guidance, the Infection Control Lead should produce an annual report on the systems in place for the prevention and control of infection and how these are monitored.
The report should contain information on:
- incidents and outbreaks of infection
- risk assessment
- training and education of staff
- infection control audits
- actions that have been taken to rectify any problems.
Implementation
All staff are responsible for the implementation of this policy.
Overall responsibility for ensuring that the policy is implemented, monitored and reviewed rests with the Infection Control Lead for the home. The Infection Control Lead will work closely with the manager of the home to ensure that all infection control policies are effectively implemented.
Individual staff practitioners are responsible for ensuring that they implement this policy wherever necessary and exercise adequate infection control precautions at all times, seeking further advice from the Infection Control Lead as required.
Information on the policy will be:
- circulated to all staff
- provided to all new employees
- included in the Infection Control Policy.
Training
All new staff should read this policy as part of their induction. Clinical staff who are required to have additional knowledge and skills in infection control will have appropriate access to ongoing training, and refresher training and assessment in infection control.
Audit
The Infection Control Lead for the home is responsible for completing a regular audit of infection control outbreaks and for ensuring that evidence-based policies and procedures in relation to the control of infection are developed and their implementation monitored.
The Infection Control Lead will monitor carefully any incident reports relating to infection control matters in order to identify any trends or patterns.
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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