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INFECTION CONTROL STANDARDS FOR ADULT CARE HOMES: A CONSULTATION

Annex D: Glossary

Acute sector Hospital-based health services which are provided on an inpatient or

outpatient basis.

Assessment The process of measuring the quality of an activity, service or organisation.

Audit Systematic review of the procedures used for diagnosis, care, and treatment,

examining how associated resources are used and investigating the effect care

has on the outcome and quality of life for the service user.

Blood Borne Infections Infections transmitted via bloodstream e.g. Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), Hepatitis B or Hepatitis C

Care Commission – The Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care (Care Commission). The Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care will register and inspect all the services to be regulated against the national care standards issued by Scottish Ministers. Its inspectors will access applications from people who want to provide registered services. They will inspect the services to make sure that they are meeting the standards and the regulations.

Catheterisation The insertion of a hollow tube (a catheter) into an organ of the body –for example, the bladder, either for investigative purposes or to give some form of treatment. Performed under strict sterile conditions.

Cleaning A process, which physically removes contamination but does not necessarily destroy microorganisms. Current routines do not typically quantify the reduction of microbial contamination, which depends upon many factors, including the efficiency of the cleaning process. Cleaning removes micro-organisms and the organic material on which they thrive. It is a necessary pre-requisite of effective disinfection or sterilisation.

Clinical Standards Board Scotland (CSBS) is a statutory body, established as a special Health Board in April 1999. Its role, in line with the Scottish Executive’s commitment to quality, openness and public accountability, is to promote public confidence that the services provided by the NHS are safe and that they meet nationally agreed standards, and to demonstrate that, within the resources available, the NHS is delivering the highest possible standards of care. Abbreviated as CSBS.

Clostridium difficile A bacteria which can cause diarrhoeal illness. It is commonly associated with and triggered by antibiotic use.

Criteria/criterion Criteria provide the more detailed and practical information on how to achieve the standard and can be described as structure, process and outcome criteria. Criterion is the singular.

CSBS See Clinical Standards Board for Scotland.

Decontamination A process which removes or destroys contamination and thereby prevents micro-organisms or other contaminants reaching a susceptible site in sufficient quantities to initiate infection or any other harmful response. Three processes of decontamination are commonly used; cleaning, disinfection and sterilisation.

Disinfection A process used to reduce the number of viable micro-organisms but which may not necessarily inactivate some microbial agents, such as certain viruses and bacterial spores. Disinfection may not achieve the same reduction in microbial contamination levels as sterilisation.

EPIC A Department of Health nurse-led multidisciplinary initiative based within the

Wolfson Institute of Health Sciences at Thames Valley University, London.

Governance A framework through which services are accountable for continuously improving the quality of their services and safeguarding high standards of care by creating an environment in which excellence in care will flourish

Guidelines Systematically developed statements which assist in decision-making about appropriate actions.

HAI See Healthcare Associated Infection.

Hand hygiene Hand hygiene is a term used to encompass all methods of hand decontamination. It includes hand washing using water and soap or a detergent based cleanser, with or without antimicrobial activity, or an alcohol based hand disinfectant.

HDL Health Department Letter (formerly known as Management Executive Letters –

MELs), formal communications from the Scottish Executive Health Department

to NHSScotland.

Healthcare Associated Infection Infection acquired in the hospital or other healthcare setting.

Healthcare professional A person qualified in a health discipline.

Incidents An event or set of circumstances which could lead to an outbreak or have potentially serious implications for an individual’s health – for example, a high risk situation (e.g. residents served with unsafe food) or a single case of dangerous infection (e.g. E.coli O157 or tuberculosis).

Infection Control Key Worker(s) person(s) with day to day responsibility for Infection Control.

Internal Audit Internal audit is an independent and objective appraisal service within an organisation. Internal audit primarily provides an independent and objective opinion on risk management, control and governance, by measuring and evaluating their effectiveness in achieving the service’s agreed objectives.

Legionella The bacterium which causes legionnaires’ disease, a pneumonia which is caught by inhaling contaminated water (e.g. from taking a shower). It is never spread person-to-person. One case would represent a serious incident.

Loss Any negative consequence, financial or otherwise.

Mandatory (guidance) Compulsory (guidance) but not required by law.

Medical devices Any healthcare (for example medical/ dental/chiropody) product, excluding drugs, which is used for a patient in the diagnosis, treatment, prevention or alleviation of illness or injury.

MEL Management Executive Letter (now known as Health Department Letters – HDL), formal communications from the Scottish Executive Health Department to NHSScotland.

Monitoring The systematic process of collecting information on clinical and non-clinical performance. Monitoring may be intermittent or continuous. It may also be undertaken in relation to specific incidents of concern or to check key performance areas.

MRSA (Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus) A bacterium commonly found on the skin of healthy people. Some of these bacteria have developed resistance to antibiotics. These resistant bacteria are called Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA.

NHS Board NHS Boards replaced the separate board structures of Health Boards and NHS Trusts. The NHS Boards cover the same geographical area as the old Health Boards. The overall purpose of unified NHS Boards is to ensure the efficient, effective and accountable governance of the local NHS system and to provide strategic leadership and direction for the system as a whole, focusing on agreed outcomes.

NHSScotland The National Health Service in Scotland.

Outbreaks Two or more cases of infection or disease likely to be due to infection in residents and/or staff which are, or could potentially be, linked by common factors such as close timing, physical proximity, or exposure to the same risk (e.g contaminated food, dressing of wounds).

Peer review Review of a service by those with expertise and experience in that service, either as a provider, user or carer. In the CSBS method all members of a review team are equal.

Primary care The conventional first point of contact between a patient and the NHS. This is the component of care delivered to patients outside hospitals and is typically, although by no means exclusively, delivered through general practices. Primary care services are the most frequently used of all services provided by the NHS.

Primary care encompasses a range of family health services provided by family doctors, dentists, pharmacists, optometrists and ophthalmic medical practitioners.

Professions allied to Healthcare Professionals directly involved in the provision of primary medicine and secondary healthcare. Includes several groups such as physiotherapists, occupational therapists, dieticians, etc.

Rationale Scientific/objective reason for taking specific action.

Remit Area of authority

Risk The chance of something happening that will have an impact (good or bad) upon objectives. Risk is measured in terms of its consequences and likelihood.

Risk factor A clearly defined occurrence or characteristic that has been associated with the increased rate of a subsequently occurring disease. Risk factors include aspects of personal behaviour, lifestyle, environmental exposure, or inborn or inherited characteristics, which are known to be associated with the disease.

Risk management A systematic approach to the management of risk, staff and patient/client/user safety, to reducing loss of life, financial loss, loss of staff availability, loss of availability of buildings or equipment, or loss of reputation.

Risk management process The systematic application of management policies, procedures and practices process to the tasks of establishing the context, identifying, analysing, evaluating, treating, monitoring and communicating of risk.

SCIEH Scottish Centre for Infection and Environmental Health.

SEHD Scottish Executive Health Department.

Self-assessment Assessment of performance against standards by those providing the service to which the standards are related.

Service provider is an individual or service providing a care service that requires to be registered and regulated under the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001; they may be:

a) An individual private provider.

b) A body corporate

c) A firm.

d) An unincorporated association.

Stakeholders Those people and services who may affect, be affected by or perceive themselves to be affected by a decision or activity.

Standard Required level of quality.

Standard statement An overall statement of desired performance.

Statutory Enacted by statute; depending on statute for its authority as a statutory provision. Required by law.

Sterilisation A process used to render an object free from viable micro-organisms including viruses and bacterial spores

The Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care – See the Care Commission

Scottish Water Scottish Water is a new organisation replacing East of Scotland Water, North of Scotland Water and West of Scotland Water and it provides water and waste water services to household and business customers across Scotland.

Specification A detailed description of the criteria of the standard

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