The Royal Institute of Public Health (RIPH) is launching new Level 2 qualification in decontamination.
The new qualification is specifically intended for those working in care settings - such as care homes, day centres, nurseries and GP surgeries.
Dr Alan Maryon-Davis, chair of the Royal Institute and President-elect of the Faculty of Public Health, said: “We’ve all heard the scare stories about catching infections in hospital, but it is less well known that we are also vulnerable on our regular visits to the doctor or dentist, or even to pick up our children from nursery.”
New figures from the Health Protection Agency show that the level of Clostridium difficile infection, a form of gastroenteritis which often follows treatment with antibiotics, is increasing, and in 2006 affected some 55,000 elderly people. And there are still nearly 7,000 cases of MRSA reported annually.
RIPH believes it is vital that the staff who work in thousands of care homes, childcare facilities and other healthcare settings understand the risks to themselves and the people for whom they care if standards of cleanliness are not properly upheld. And employers in these markets are painfully aware not only of the serious threat to people’s health, but also of the damaging legal action that can result from low standards of cleanliness.
Dr Maryon-Davis added: “This topic is high on everyone’s agenda, and we believe that the qualification gives employers in health and social care settings a practical way to control infection.”
