practice partner
practice points from the ICRC
In its review of cases, the Inquiries, Complaints and Reports Committee identifies clinical or practice issues
that may be of educational value to the profession.
The 10 most common infection
control deficiencies seen by CPSO
1 Lack of awareness of new
Infection Prevention and
Control Guidelines. No Guide
found in clinic.
2 Use of household cleaning
agents rather than those
suitable for a clinic setting.
3 Failure to engage a professional
cleaning service.
4 Failure to use safety
engineered syringes.
5 Failure to properly re-process
Infection Control and prevention
photo: stocksy.com
T
he need for infection
prevention and control
measures in medical
settings has probably
never been more apparent to the
general public and to the medical
community than it is now. Experiences with Severe Acute Respiratory
Syndrome (SARS) in 2003 and
pandemic H1N1 virus in 2009, as
well as events related to inadequate
sterilization and disinfection of
medical equipment, have underscored the notion that every person
is vulnerable if proper safeguards
are not in place to prevent the
transmission and acquisition of
infection.
And yet despite this heightened
awareness, College investigators are
seeing what appears to be a rising
number of infection prevention and
control deficiencies in physicians’
offices. What are the most common
transgressions? We list them here.
And remember, the updated
Infection Prevention and Control for
Clinical Office Practice guidelines
(downloadable from the College’s
website at www.cpso.on.ca) is
required reading for all practising
physicians.
instruments including failure to
use enzyme pre-soak; no service
contract for autoclave; improper
training of clinic staff to reprocess; failure to use chemical,
physical and biological monitors
and indicators; failure to record
results of same.
6 Failure to have clear delineation
between clean and dirty areas
where re-processing occurs.
7 Failure to post universal hand
washing and cough protocols
where patients can see them.
8 No isolation area for patients
identified with respiratory
infections and other
communicable diseases.
9 Re-use of one use items.
10 Improper waste disposal.
Issue 3, 2015 Dialogue
41