Infection Control Statement

Devon Doctors is committed to ensuring our patients and their families remain as healthy as possible. Our service users should feel confident they will receive a safe and clean service during consultations with our clinicians at a base or during a home visit.  We take seriously our commitment to provide care that is consistent with the Health and Social Care Act 2008 Code of Practice on the prevention and control of infections and related guidance (known as the Hygiene Code).

Building on the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) Clean Your Hands campaign and Department of Health Saving lives initiative, our focus has been on Infection Control responsibilities at all levels. The prevention of infection is a high priority for our organisation. This is because it is vital to the safety and quality of care that patients receive when they use our services.

The micro-organisms that cause infection move with people from the community into hospital and out into the community again. Therefore, hand hygiene (washing hands or using alcohol gel) is the single most important thing we can all do to stop the spread of infection. This is why you will find alcohol hand gel where care is carried out, e.g. at every bedside, and you may also see staff in hospital and community settings carrying personal gel dispensers.

Our hand hygiene strategy is based on the National Patient Safety Agency Clean Your Hands campaign and the World Health Organisation’s guidelines for hand hygiene in healthcare. Both these programmes recommend the placement of alcohol gel close to where patients are cared for. There are a number of safety concerns associated with the provision of alcohol gel in unsupervised areas, so for these reasons, gel is not provided in the main entrances of our hospitals.

For more information, please visit the website of the local hospital your treatment centre is based in.