Pall Medical is to hold a series of free-to-attend educational seminars, dubbed ‘training masterclasses’, across the UK focusing on current guidelines for prevention of waterborne diseases in healthcare premises, and their implications for healthcare estates teams, clinical personnel involved with augmented care such as treating burns victims and ICU patients, microbiologists, and infection control staff.
The Department of Health Gateway 14720 requires all NHS Trusts to assess bacterial counts in water for hand washing, and to minimise contamination of sinks and taps. Further measures may include installation of point-of-use (tap/terminal end) filters, and Trusts are also advised to review site engineering and cleaning protocols in line with current guidance such as HTM 04-01 for the control of Legionella bacteria in healthcare premises.
The seminars, which will see leading UK and international specialists look in detail at these and other issues, offer CPD accreditation. Topics covered will include: current guidelines; microorganisms found in hospital water systems, e.g. Pseudomonas spp., Legionella spp. and Cryptosporidium spp.; clinical relevance of infections with these organisms in haematology, oncology and ICUs; and prophylactic prevention and outbreak control measures.
Keynote speakers will include:
• Professor Matthias Trautmann, head of the Institute of Hospital Hygiene at the Klinikum Stuttgart in Germany. Professor of Medicine, Microbiology and Hygiene at Ulm University since 1997, he has authored over 120 publications on infectious diseases, antibiotic therapy, and hospital epidemiology, and is co-author and co-editor of the 1,000-page textbook Clinical Infectious Diseases (in German), published by Elsevier, Munich, in 2000 (1st ed.) and 2009 (2nd ed.).
• Professor Kevin Kerr, consultant microbiologist and director of Infection Prevention and Control at Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust, and honorary clinical professor of Microbiology at Hull York Medical School. Professor Kerr is also chair of the European Society for Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases’ Study Group on Food and Waterborne Infection; a member of The Royal College of Physicians Working Party on Healthcare-associated Infection, and an assistant editor of The Journal of Hospital Infection.
• Dr Tom Makin, the former directorate manager of the Department of Medical Microbiology at the Royal Liverpool University Hospitals for over 25 years, and now an independent consultant. Dr Makin is co-author of HSE ACOP (L8) on the Control of Legionella in Water Systems, and of HTM 04-01. He has an extensive research background in the environmental aspects of Legionnaires’ disease, and has advised many NHS Trusts on the control of Legionella and other waterborne pathogens.
• Dr Michael Weinbren, consultant medical microbiologist and director of Infection Prevention and Control for the University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust. Dr Weinbren is an authority on the investigation of water systems contaminated with Pseudomonas and Legionella spp. in new and old hospitals, and a co-editor of the recently published Medical Microbiology Testing in Primary Care (January 2012, Manson Publishing Ltd).
These ‘training masterclasses’ are supported by educational grants from Pall Medical, and organised by Convenus Conference and Event Management.
For further information and online booking, visit: www.specialistmasterclasses.com
