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Infection prevention and control manual

For information the National infection prevention and control manual has been adopted by RDaSH.

The National infection prevention and control manual (NIPCM) for England is an evidence-based practice manual for use by all those involved in care provision in England and the principles are applicable to all care settings. The aim of the NIPCM is to ensure a consistent UK wide approach to infection prevention and control (IPC), however some operational and organisational details may differ.

The NIPCM has been adapted for use to support and facilitate healthcare providers to demonstrate compliance with the ten criteria of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 Code of practice on the prevention and control of infections and related guidance.

Pathogen specific guidance is out of remit of the NIPCM. Pathogen-specific guidance appropriate to England, is produced by other agencies, for example, UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), and can be found in the A to Z of pathogens resource.

Quick guides

The quick guides below have been developed to incorporate local policy and procedure. They will provide you with the information required for the initial management of a patient with a specific organism or for a particular process, with any ongoing support provided by the IPC team.

Supporting documents

Pathology specimen handbooks

  1. Doncaster pathology specimen handbook (staff access only)
  2. Rotherham pathology specimen handbook
  3. North Lincolnshire pathology specimen handbook

Contact information

Advice can be obtained from:

Infection prevention and control team

Lines are open Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.

Urgent or out of hours advice

The consultant microbiologist

Please escalate through usual processes prior to contacting to ascertain if appropriate. If urgent or out of hours advice is required then contact the microbiologist for the locality the patient is:

  • In the Doncaster and North Lincolnshire areas, contact the Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (DBTHFT): 01302 366 666.
  • In the Rotherham area ,contact the Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust (TRFT): 01709 820 000.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKSHA)

It will automatically redirect staff during out of hours.

Notifiable diseases and causative organisms

Registered medical practitioners (RMPs) attending a patient must notify the United Kingdom Health Security Agency (UKHSA) when they have “reasonable grounds for suspecting” that the patient has a notifiable disease and causative organism.

The most current guidance and forms to undertake this can be found on the notifiable diseases and how to report them.

Useful links

Training

All staff must undertake 000 infection prevention and control level 1 training every three years via e-learning. This will be recorded on the electronic staff record (ESR) system.

Clinical staff must undertake 000 infection prevention and control level 2 training annually (completing level 2 training will update the level 1 training on your matrix). This training can be completed via e-learning. This will be recorded on the ESR.

Specific topics level 3, by request directly to the IPC team. This training is undertaken as requested, will be delivered face to face by the IPC team and recorded on ESR.

Monitoring arrangements

Non adherence to procedures will be monitored via IR1 reports, post infection reviews, outbreak reports, clinical visits and clinical audit. This will be undertaken by managers or matrons and the IPC team. This will be reported to the infection prevention and control committee (IPCC) on a quarterly basis.

Page last reviewed: June 02, 2025
Next review due: June 02, 2026

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