Hand Hygiene Day 2024: Meet our Infection Prevention and Control team!

To celebrate Hand Hygiene Day 2024, we caught up with Lead Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Nurse Angela Hendzell, IPC Nurse Specialist Veronica Parker, IPC Nurse Jodie Bromhall and IPC Assistant Practitioner Natalie Greaves who talked all about the support that their team can offer across Sheffield Children’s.

Our Infection Prevention and Control team is responsible for all IPC queries from teams across the Trust. Angela said: “As a team, we oversee patients that test positive for organisms that pose a risk of infection, including meticillin resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Clostridioides difficile (C.diff), Group A Streptococcus and Norovirus amongst others. The responses required from the team are different for each of these and we have a primary goal of using our expertise to contain these organisms if possible. As we are in a healthcare environment, we want to reduce the risk of healthcare associated infections, where someone gets an infection whilst they are with us.”

The team often interact with our patients and families, addressing any queries that they might have and making sure that they feel as comfortable as possible after testing positive. Natalie said: “The team often conducts patient reviews. This involves speaking to parents to make sure that they understand the condition, what that means for the child and what we are trying to do to eradicate that alert organism if we can.”

Veronica added: “Patient and parent interaction is so important in our roles. We aim to be supportive towards families across our sites and must make sure that they have what they need from an IPC perspective. We hope that parents feel comfortable in approaching us with any questions at any time. With long-term patients we can build a rapport and we really get to make a difference during their stay here.”

A key component of the World Health Organisation’s Hand Hygiene Day 2024 is ‘sharing knowledge’ and our IPC team embody this by delivering a range of training and education sessions to staff members across Sheffield Children’s. This gives everybody an opportunity to ask specific questions about IPC in their area. Jodie said: “I really enjoy supporting our teams through education. Across Sheffield Children’s, our staff members are always caring and attentive when we’re delivering sessions, and it is brilliant when we see that they are able to take new information and inspiration away from our sessions and make a difference.”

Our IPC team all recognise the importance of hand hygiene, especially in a healthcare setting. Jodie said: “Working within the NHS, it’s very important that everybody is aware of the importance of hand hygiene. Washing your hands is an easy way of making sure that you protect yourself and others from a range of viruses and other illnesses.”

We’d like to thank the IPC team for talking all about their roles with us, alongside the importance of hand hygiene. For more information about how everyone can make sure that they follow the principles of hand hygiene, please visit the WHO website.