Infection Prevention and Control

Purpose of the 'Annual statement'

The Health and Social Care Act 2008: code of practice on the prevention and control of infection and related guidance requires the Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Lead to produce an annual statement.  This statement should be made available for anyone who wishes to see it, including patients and regulatory authorities and should also be published on the provider’s website.

Introduction

This Annual statement has been drawn up on 28th February 2025 in accordance with the requirement of the Health and Social Care Act 2008: code of practice on the prevention and control of infections and related guidance for University of Bristol Dental School.  It summarises:

  1. Infection transmission incidents and actions taken
  2. IPC audits undertaken and subsequent actions implemented
  3. Risk assessments undertaken and any actions taken for prevention and control of infection
  4. Staff training
  5. Review and update of Infection Prevent & Control (IPC) policies, procedures and guidelines
  6. Antimicrobial prescribing and stewardship

This statement has been drawn up by Lee Moran, Infection Prevent and Control Lead

1. Infection transmission incidents

There have been 18 incidents reported on our incident reporting system in the 12 months prior to issuing this statement.  16 of these incidents were sharps injuries to staff or students. Changes implemented as a result of these incidents include a more robust sharps count on Oral Surgery and ensuring that students are informed at every briefing the safe process for disposing of sharps at point of use.

The other 2 incidents include a dirty glove in a box of gloves and bodily fluid potentially entering a student’s eye. The School has a robust PPE policy in place to prevent such incidents.

There have been 0 significant events raised that related to infection control and 0 complaints made regarding cleanliness or infection control.

2. IPC Audits and actions

IPC audits are conducted every 6 months, with the most recent audit (prior to publishing this document) taking place in January 2025.  No issues were identified.  Clinical staff also undertake additional monthly Hand Hygiene and Sharps spot checks.

There are monthly cleaning audits carried out by our cleaning services team.  Minor issues have been identified and addressed at the time of these audits.

Our Decontamination department is also audited annually by an Authorised Engineer (Decontamination).  The most recent audit took place during February 2025 and no issues were noted.

3. Risk Assessments

Risk assessments are performed as required and are reviewed annually. The following risk assessment have been conducted in the past year and continue to be reviewed annually.

  • A Health and safety risk assessment.
  • COSHH risk assessments
  • Sharps risk assessment
  • Sterile Services risk assessment

The following have also been conducted on the dates shown:

Legionella Risk Assessment: 8-11th April /amended 18th September 2024

Pseudomonas Risk Assessment: 22-24th October 2024

All incidents are reported on our Incident management system.  As part of the investigations into incidents, risk scores are allocated and will determine whether further risk assessments are required.

4. Staff training

All clinical and technical staff are enrolled on annual IPC Level 2 training at the beginning of each academic year.  In January 2025, 93% of staff had completed the 24/25 module. Staff are encouraged to report all IPC concerns or incidents on our internal incident reporting software.

5. IPC Policies, procedures and guidance

The IPC related policies and procedures which have been written, updated or reviewed in the last year include, but are not limited to:

  • Infection Prevention & Control Policy
  • Decontamination Policy
  • Dental Laboratory Infection Control Policy
  • Disposal of Sharps and Dental Burs Policy
  • Sharps & Needlestick Injury SOP
  • Local Hand Hygiene Policy
  • Latex Policy
  • Managing Infectious Disease Policy
  • Uniform & Dress Code Policy

Policies relating to IPC are available to all staff and students, and are reviewed and updated annually. Additionally, policies may be amended as a result of learnings from incidents, updated guidance and legislation changes, or following the sharing of best practice with other providers.

6. Antimicrobial prescribing and stewardship

Our Anti-microbial Stewardship Guardian is Chris Bell (Clinical Co-Director).

At Bristol Dental School, all clinicians play a key role in reducing antibiotic resistance by practicing antibiotic stewardship. This means not prescribing antibiotics for patients who are unlikely to suffer from bacterial infection, while ensuring the patients who do require antibiotic treatment receive the appropriate antibiotics, at the correct dose and for the proper duration.

We conduct an annual Antibiotic prescribing audit, with the most recent being conducted in January 2025.  There were 3 actions identified during this audit. All actions are either in the process of, or have already been, implemented.

7. Priorities & Objectives for the Coming Year

For 2025, Bristol Dental School will be implementing a ‘IPC Champion’ role for each area who will be responsible for ensuring that IPC procedures are followed and that any non-compliance is challenged and reported.  IPC Champions will then meet with the IPC Lead quarterly to raise issues and identify any trends.  Persistent issues will be escalated though to the School’s Clinical Governance Board.

As an education facility, we are also keen to ensure IPC is core competency at transition from classroom to clinic.  We will be looking at ways we can continue to improve how this is emphasised and monitored for our students.