Infection control

Why is infection control so important in Intensive Care?

Patients who are in Intensive Care are more at risk of getting infections. This is mainly due to patients being so unwell, and because some of the equipment we use can increase the risk of infection.The breathing  (or endotracheal) tube, for example, provides essential support, but can increase the risk of lung infection. The lines and drips we use to monitor the patient or give fluids and medications can also increase the risk of bloodstream infections.

What do the staff do to prevent infection?

There are many things that we do to help minimise the risk of infection. One of the most important is washing our hands with soap and water or using alcohol gel. To reduce the risk of lung infections, we coat the patient's mouth with an antiseptic gel every day,we try to reduce the amount of sedation we give every day (the drugs used to keep patients sleepy), and we take the breathing tube out as soon as it is safe to do so. Also, patients are seen regularly by physiotherapists, and we aim to get patients sitting upright or out of bed as soon as possible.

To reduce the risk of bloodstream infections, we insert lines and drips in a particular way ("aseptically"), we use lines or drips that have an antiseptic coating, and we takes lines or drips out as quickly as possible.

We collect detailed information on the types and rates of infection, and we check how well we do all the things that we know reduces the risk. We share this information with all the staff so that we can continually make improvement to what we do.