Bibliographic information
Recommendation
1a. Health care facility level The panel recommends that an IPC (infection prevention and control) programme with a dedicated, trained team should be in place in each acute health care facility for the purpose of preventing HAI (health care-associated infection) and combating AMR (antimicrobial resistance) through IPC good practices.
Recommended in favor
Strong
Certainty of evidence
Very low
Notes and Remarks
The organization of IPC programmes must have clearly defined objectives based on local epidemiology and priorities according to risk assessment and functions that align with and contribute to the prevention of HAI and the spread of AMR in health care. It is critical for a functioning IPC programme to have dedicated, trained professionals in every acute care facility. A minimum ratio of one full-time or equivalent infection preventionist (nurse or doctor) per 250 beds should be available. However, there was a strong opinion that a higher ratio should be considered, for example, one infection preventionist per 100 beds, due to increasing patient acuity and complexity, as well as the multiple roles and responsibilities of the modern preventionist. Good quality microbiological laboratory support is a very critical factor an effective IPC programme.
Also Featured In
This recommendation also appears in the following guidelines:
Guidelines on core components of infection prevention and control programmes at the national and acute health care facility level
WHO guidelines on tuberculosis infection prevention and control: 2019 update