Infection Prevention Services

21/08/2025

Fighting Infection: Why IPC Lapses Endanger Lives 🚫

Lapses in Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) are a major audit concern, particularly after COVID-19, as they pose a risk to vulnerable residents. Common failures include:

• Lack of proper hygiene protocols (e.g., hand hygiene, cleaning schedules).

• Poor sanitation in resident rooms and shared areas.

• Failure to adequately train staff on infection control procedures.

These deficiencies facilitate the rapid spread of infections, putting lives at risk. IPC leads play a vital role in delivering ongoing, targeted training and utilising technology for automated monitoring of training and competency.

💡 Key Takeaway: Robust IPC measures, supported by ongoing training and proactive oversight, are essential for protecting resident health in aged care.

Access the full blogs associated with these posts on the HUB, the IPS website : https://lnkd.in/g3uqxUHP

For more information, talk to EVE, our information bot or contact our friendly team at support@infectioncontrol.care

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20/08/2025

Beyond Records: Personal Care, Clinical Care, and Documentation Gaps 📝

Poor personal and clinical care is a major area of non-compliance, often caused by inadequate staffing. Audits highlight issues such as a lack of personalised care plans, delayed responses to call bells, and inadequate support for hygiene, mobility, and nutritional needs. Clinical care failures include poor wound management and medication errors. Inadequate documentation and record-keeping are also common problems, obstructing the ability to monitor a resident's health and creating care gaps. Transitioning to digital record-keeping platforms ensures accurate, accessible, and real-time data, simplifying compliance checks and enhancing communication.

💡 Key Takeaway: Precise and comprehensive documentation, along with strong digital systems, are essential for providing reliable, high-quality personalised and clinical care.

Access the full blogs associated with these posts on the HUB, the IPS website : https://lnkd.in/g3uqxUHP

For more information, talk to EVE, our information bot or contact our friendly team at support@infectioncontrol.care

19/08/2025

The Critical Link: Staffing, Training, and Quality Care 🧠

Inadequate staffing and training are common systemic issues found in aged care audits. Facilities frequently lack enough staff, especially registered nurses, and often fail to meet mandatory care minute targets. This directly raises the risk of neglect and reduces the quality of care. Problems also arise when staff do not have proper training or the required skills, especially for new residents with complex needs. To address these issues, facilities need to focus on hiring and keeping qualified staff. Implementing ongoing, comprehensive training programs that cover new regulatory standards, infection control, and person-centred care is crucial.

💡 Key Takeaway: Prioritising a skilled, well-trained workforce is essential for raising standards of care and safeguarding resident well-being.

Access the full blogs associated with these posts on the HUB, the IPS website : https://lnkd.in/g3uqxUHP

For more information, talk to EVE, our information bot or contact our friendly team at support@infectioncontrol.care

18/08/2025

Unpacking the Top Audit Failures in Aged Care 🚫

Audits in Australian and New Zealand aged care facilities consistently uncover critical issues. The most serious and common failures identified by regulatory bodies and industry reports relate to staffing problems, inadequate resident care, poor documentation, and lapses in infection control. These are not just procedural oversights; they directly affect the quality of care and resident safety. From a shortage of registered nurses to neglected hygiene protocols, these failures highlight systemic challenges that require urgent attention and a commitment to transparent improvements.

💡 Key Takeaway: Addressing these fundamental audit failures is essential for protecting our most vulnerable residents and delivering high-quality aged care.

Access the full blogs associated with these posts on the HUB, the IPS website : https://lnkd.in/g3uqxUHP

For more information, talk to EVE, our information bot or contact our friendly team at support@infectioncontrol.care

15/08/2025

The Big Benefits: Why Moving Beyond Sluicing is a Win-Win for Aged Care 🏆

Adopting a contemporary approach to laundry offers obvious benefits for everyone in an aged care facility – residents, staff, and the facility itself.

• Enhanced Safety: It greatly reduces the risk of infection spreading to vulnerable residents and frontline staff by decreasing exposure to pathogens.

• Enhanced Compliance: It ensures your facility complies with the latest industry standards (AS 4146:2024 and NZS 8134:2021) and your legal obligations under the workplace Health and Safety laws.

• Greater Efficiency: It creates a more streamlined, logical workflow, saving staff time and reducing manual labour. The evidence is clear: manual sluicing is an outdated practice. By adopting modern technology and workflows, facilities can promote a safer, healthier environment.

💡 Key Takeaway: Moving beyond manual sluicing not only enhances safety and compliance but also increases operational efficiency in aged care facilities.

Access the full blogs associated with these posts on the HUB, the IPS website : https://lnkd.in/g3uqxUHP

For more information, talk to EVE, our information bot or contact our friendly team at support@infectioncontrol.care

14/08/2025

Streamline Your Laundry: The Safer, Smarter Workflow for Aged Care

Eliminating manual sluicing doesn't complicate laundry; it makes it more straightforward and efficient! The recommended best practice is simple:

1. Sort at the Source: Staff separate soiled linen at the point of collection, using clearly marked, colour-coded, leak-resistant bags. Heavily fouled items are placed into separate, distinct bags.

2. Direct-to-Machine: Sorted Bags are transported in covered trolleys directly to the laundry. Bags are emptied directly into the washing machine, with the bag itself washed along with its contents. This "no-touch" method significantly reduces staff exposure and contamination risk. Additionally, the now-unused sluice room can be converted into a dedicated decontamination or cleaning zone, improving overall facility hygiene.

💡 Key Takeaway: A "Sort at the Source" and "Direct-to-Machine" workflow is safer, simpler, and more efficient, reducing contamination and staff exposure.

Access the full blogs associated with these posts on the HUB, the IPS website : https://lnkd.in/g3uqxUHP

For more information, talk to EVE, our information bot or contact our friendly team at support@infectioncontrol.care

13/08/2025

New Era for Laundry: Standards & Tech Making Sluicing Obsolete! 🧽

Great news for aged care! The industry has advanced, and modern standards now clearly recommend moving away from manual sluicing. AS 4146:2024 (Laundry practice) advises that fouled items should be processed directly using a washing machine’s chemical or thermal disinfection cycle, eliminating the need for pre-rinsing. This is reinforced by NZS 8134:2021 Ngā paerewa Health and disability services standard, which requires safe and hygienic laundry handling to minimise infection risk. This shift is driven by two key developments: improved, more absorbent incontinence products and commercial laundry machines with validated disinfection cycles.

💡 Key Takeaway: New industry standards and advanced laundry technology make manual sluicing unnecessary, promoting safer and more effective cleaning.

Access the full blogs associated with these posts on the HUB, the IPS website : https://lnkd.in/g3uqxUHP

For more information, talk to EVE, our information bot or contact our friendly team at support@infectioncontrol.care

12/08/2025

The Hidden Dangers of Manual Sluicing in Aged Care❗

Manual sluicing may seem routine, but it poses significant health and safety risks that are not always visible. The process produces aerosols – tiny airborne particles capable of carrying pathogens. These can easily contaminate nearby surfaces, equipment, and even clean laundry. This splashing and aerosolisation creates a high risk of cross-contamination, turning the very room meant for cleaning into a potential source of infection. Furthermore, continuing with manual sluicing, when safer alternatives exist, directly conflicts with legal obligations under Australia and New Zealand's workplace health and safety laws aimed at protecting workers from exposure to bodily fluids and contaminated materials.

💡Key Takeaway: Manual sluicing creates dangerous aerosols and cross-contamination, posing serious health risks and violating legal safety duties.

Access the full blogs associated with these posts on the HUB, the IPS website : https://lnkd.in/g3uqxUHP

For more information, talk to EVE, our information bot or contact our friendly team at support@infectioncontrol.care

11/08/2025

Is Your Aged Care Facility Still Using Manual Sluicing? Time to Reconsider!

For decades, traditional sluice rooms were a fixture in aged care, but now they are outdated and carry unseen risks. Modern sluicing has mostly fallen out of favour in Australia and New Zealand due to significant improvements in laundry practices. Manual sluicing poses dangers such as aerosol generation and cross-contamination, which can turn a cleaning room into a source of infection. Industry standards like AS 4146:2024 and NZS 8134:2021, along with legal requirements under workplace Health and Safety laws, strongly encourage moving away from this practice. It's time to adopt a safer, more efficient, and compliant approach to laundry management that safeguards both staff and residents.

💡 Key Takeaway: Manual sluicing is an outdated and risky practice that modern aged care facilities should abandon for the safety of all.

Access the full blogs associated with these posts on the HUB, the IPS website : https://lnkd.in/g3uqxUHP

For more information, talk to EVE, our information bot or contact our friendly team at support@infectioncontrol.care

08/08/2025

Modern Sluice Rooms: A Vital, Evolved Ecosystem ♻️

Is sluicing still relevant? Absolutely! It's a vital and continuously evolving process, operating "24 hours a day, 7 days a week" in modern healthcare, especially in aged care facilities. Modern sluice rooms are more than just disposal areas; they embody a comprehensive "sluice room management" approach that integrates precise design, cutting-edge technology, and rigorous staff training. This holistic method creates a proactive control point for the safety of patients and staff, essential for preventing outbreaks.

💡 Key Takeaway: Today's sluice rooms are sophisticated, engineered spaces that act as a crucial frontline in global infection control!

Access the full blogs associated with these posts on the HUB, the IPS website : https://lnkd.in/g3uqxUHP

For more information, talk to EVE, our information bot or contact our friendly team at support@infectioncontrol.care

07/08/2025

From Manual Risks to Automated Safety in Sluicing 🚫

Traditional manual waste handling in healthcare posed significant and inherent risks, such as direct exposure to human waste, inadequate disinfection, and a high potential for cross-contamination, leading to HAIs for both patients and staff. Manual bedpan cleaning and spray wands are now expressly discouraged due to the increased infection risk with aerosol production using these methods. These dangers, along with technological advancements, have driven the transition to automated solutions. Automation, such as medical pulp macerators and bedpan washer-disinfectors, reduces human contact and eliminates "hidden" invisible threats.

💡 Key Takeaway: Automation in sluicing safeguards healthcare workers and patients by effectively removing both visible and hidden threats from microorganisms!

Access the full blogs associated with these posts on the HUB, the IPS website : https://lnkd.in/g3uqxUHP

For more information, talk to EVE, our information bot or contact our friendly team at support@infectioncontrol.care

06/08/2025

📣 We’re taking IPC around New Zealand!

Leading, Learning, Living IPC
From Policy to Practice: Empowering Aged Care Leaders to Champion Infection Prevention Change.

Most facilities know the protocols. But under pressure, those practices often break down.
That’s why we’ve partnered with the New Zealand Aged Care Association - ACA to bring New Zealand the National IPC Roadshow.

Designed to close the knowing-doing gap the workshop will equip you to:
-Lead behaviour change confidently
-Lift audit performance through measurable, embedded practice
-Empower your team to do the right thing, even when no one is watching
-Sustain change beyond training days and policy documents

📍 18 New Zealand locations
🕐 6 CPD Hours
🎟️ Strictly limited - only 20 seats per location!

Secure your spot now: https://ipservices.care/ipc-roadshow