Date: 25th October 2025
Purpose
This annual statement will be generated each year in October, in accordance with the requirements of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 Code of Practice on the prevention and control of infections and related guidance. The report will be published on the organisation’s website and will include the following summary:
- Any infection transmission incidents and any action taken (these will have been reported in accordance with our significant event procedure)
- Details of any infection control audits carried out and actions undertaken
- Details of any risk assessments undertaken for the prevention and control of infection
- Details of staff training
- Any review and update of policies, procedures and guidelines
Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Lead
The Lead for infection prevention and control at The Beeches Medical Centre is
Stephanie Hulme – Practice Nurse/Nurse Prescriber
The IPC Lead is supported by;
| Name | Position |
| Claire Charlton | Practice Manager |
| Adam Bolton | Deputy Practice Manager |
Infection transmission incidents (significant events)
Significant events involve examples of good practice as well as challenging events.
Positive events are discussed at meetings to allow all staff to be appraised in areas of best practice.
Negative events are managed by the staff member who either identified or was advised of any potential shortcoming. This person will complete a Significant Event Analysis (SEA) form which commences an investigation process to establish what can be learnt and to indicate changes that might lead to future improvements.
All significant events are reviewed and discussed at several meetings each month. Any learning points are cascaded to all relevant staff where an action plan, including audits or policy review, may follow.
In the past year, there have been 0 significant events raised which related to infection control. There have also been 0 complaints made regarding cleanliness or infection control.
Infection prevention audit and actions
| Audit | Frequency |
| Hand Wash Audit | Rolling Programme – Monthly |
| Environmental Cleanliness Audit | Rolling Programme – Monthly |
| Cleaning Contractor Audit | Rolling Programme – Monthly |
| Annual Infection Control Audit | October 2025 |
| 3 yearly Legionella Risk Assessment | October 2025 |
| Booking-in screen audit | Rolling Programme – Monthly |
| IPC staff Training | Rolling 2 year Programme |
| Sharps Bin Closure Audit | Rolling Programme – Monthly |
Risk assessments
Risk assessments are carried out so that any risk is minimised and made to be as low as is reasonably practicable. Additionally, a risk assessment that can identify best practice can be established and then followed.
In the last year, the following risk assessments were carried out/reviewed:
- Legionella Water Risk Assessment – Weekly and Monthly Checks are completed by our contractor – Total Environmental Compliance Ltd. All matters relating to Legionella is managed by Total Environmental Compliance Ltd
- 3 yearly Legionella Risk Assessment – October 2025
- Sharps Risk Assessment – October 2025
Training
In addition to staff being involved in risk assessments and significant events, at The Beeches Medical Centre all staff and contractors receive IPC induction training on commencing their post. Thereafter, all staff receive refresher training annually.
Various elements of IPC training in the previous year have been delivered at the following times:
- During dedicated practice based learning times (PLT).
- Each member of staff as dedicated training time to complete IPC training.
- Hand hygiene training is on a rolling programme.
Policies and Procedures
The infection prevention and control-related policies and procedures that have been written, updated or reviewed in the last year include, but are not limited to:
| Ref | Title | Last Review Date | Next Review Date |
| GP01 | Antimicrobial Stewardship Policy | 25/07/2025 | 25/07/2026 |
| GP02 | Aseptic Technique Policy | 25/07/2025 | 25/07/2026 |
| GP03 | Blood-borne viruses (BBV) Policy | 25/07/2025 | 25/07/2026 |
| GP04 | C.Difficile Policy | 25/07/2025 | 25/07/2026 |
| GP05 | CJD Policy | 25/07/2025 | 25/07/2026 |
| GP06 | Hand hygiene Policy | 25/07/2025 | 25/07/2026 |
| GP07 | Invasive devices Policy | 25/07/2025 | 25/07/2026 |
| GP08 | MRGNB Policy | 25/07/2025 | 25/07/2026 |
| GP09 | MRSA Policy | 25/07/2025 | 25/07/2026 |
| GP10 | Notifiable disease Policy | 25/07/2025 | 25/07/2026 |
| GP11 | Outbreaks of communicable disease Policy | 25/07/2025 | 25/07/2026 |
| GP12 | Patient placement and assessment Policy | 25/07/2025 | 25/07/2026 |
| GP13 | PPE Policy | 25/07/2025 | 25/07/2026 |
| GP14 | PVL-SA Policy | 25/07/2025 | 25/07/2026 |
| GP15 | Respiratory and cough hygiene Policy | 25/07/2025 | 25/07/2026 |
| GP16 | Respiratory illnesses Policy | 25/07/2025 | 25/07/2026 |
| GP17 | Safe disposal of waste, including sharps policy | 25/07/2025 | 25/07/2026 |
| GP18 | Safe management of blood and body fluid spillages policy | 25/07/2025 | 25/07/2026 |
| GP19 | Safe management of care equipment policy | 25/07/2025 | 25/07/2026 |
| GP20 | Safe management of linen, including workwear policy | 25/07/2025 | 25/07/2026 |
| GP21 | Safe management of sharps and inoculation injuries policy | 25/07/2025 | 25/07/2026 |
| GP22 | Safe management of the care environment policy | 25/07/2025 | 25/07/2026 |
| GP23 | Scabies Policy | 29/07/2025 | 29/07/2026 |
| GP24 | SICPs and TBPs Policy | 29/07/2025 | 29/07/2026 |
| GP25 | Specimen Collection Policy | 29/07/2025 | 29/07/2026 |
| GP26 | Venepuncture Policy | 30/07/2025 | 29/07/2026 |
| GP27 | Viral gastroenteritis/norovirus Policy | 30/07/2025 | 30/07/2026 |
Policies relating to infection prevention and control are available to all staff and are reviewed and updated annually. Additionally, all policies are amended on an ongoing basis as per current advice, guidance and legislation changes.
Responsibility
It is the responsibility of all staff members at The Beeches Medical Centre to be familiar with this statement and their roles and responsibilities under it.
Review
The IPC Lead and Practice Manager are responsible for reviewing and producing the annual statement.
This annual statement will be updated on or before October 2026.
Signed by: Adam Bolton
Deputy Practice Manager
For and on behalf of The Beeches Medical Centre