Source: NHS England Bulletin 8.1.26 (issue 371)
Winter poses unique challenges. Prevention must continue to be central to plans and IPC is a critical component in reducing risks.
The following actions remain critical to managing respiratory virus risks and safeguarding patient, staff, and visitor wellbeing.
Key actions:
- Reinforce the importance of vaccination, which can indirectly support resilience against respiratory outbreaks.
- Maintain cleaning and disinfectionparticularly of high-touch surfaces and shared equipment.
- Support and maintain vigilance in cohortingor isolating symptomatic individuals, especially in high-risk areas.
- Ensure frontline staff are aware of diagnosticoptions for respiratory pathogens and are prepared to manage suspected cases appropriately.
- Promote ventilation improvementsin enclosed spaces.
- Adhere to personal protective equipment (PPE) protocolswhen dealing with suspected or confirmed cases.
- Reinforce hand hygieneand respiratory etiquette, for example, covering coughs/sneezes, disposal of tissues.
National guidance remains unchanged and universal masking is not being mandated. However, a supporting Draft universal masking decision support tool guide is designed to provide a systematic framework that can be used by staff in healthcare settings.
Further IPC supporting resources are also available via the NIPCT dedicated winter NHS Futures page.
