Volunteers at Aintree Hospital in Merseyside work with Julie Hughes, Infection Control Nurse Consultant and her team, helping in various infection control initiatives such as the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) " cleanyourhands" campaign, to encourage hand washing among staff, patients and visitors within the Trust. Aintree is a " Pioneer Partner" in the NPSA campaign and the volunteers have also been instrumental in helping Christine O'Connor, the NPSA local NPSA Project Leader, to distribute publicity material such as posters etc. in the Trust.
Julie was the first infection control nurse consultant in an acute trust in the UK. The post was developed in recognition of the importance of infection prevention control and to keep it high on the agenda. In order to achieve this it is important to involve everyone and this includes Trust volunteers.
Julie works closely with the Voluntary Services Manager, Terry Owen, who co-ordinates all volunteers across the Trust and has provided a number of volunteers to Julie. These volunteers have done a number of things to support infection control which include
- A volunteer who interviewed 12 senior staff (Matrons, Ward Managers and Senior Nurses) who are budget holders and act as role models within the Trust to provide qualitative research around infection control: this was part of the Interchange programme at Liverpool University and will be published in the British Journal of Infection Control in April 2005
- A volunteer who interviewed other volunteers to test their perception of infection control training, which led to revise and improve the training all hospital volunteers receive: this was presented as a poster at the International Infection Control Nurses Association Conference in Belfast in September 2004
- Volunteers also help with information about infection control, devising and distributing posters, flyers etc and supporting the annual infection control hospital road show. They also read draft materials to check they are clear to non medical staff and ensure notice boards are regularly updates
- Some wards have volunteers who meet visitors as they enter the ward and these volunteers have been particularly successful in encouraging all visitors, including senior medical staff, to wash their hands before going on the ward
Volunteers at Aintree regularly go on to train in nursing and medical care, or to find employment within the trust, and take their commitment to infection control into their NHS career.
Julie Hughes speaks highly of the volunteers and says, “I have been particularly impressed by all the Volunteers and their general attitude and willingness to help never fails to impress me. Infection prevention and control is a very high on everyone's agenda as the consequences of infection can be life threatening. The Trust Infection Control Team is always looking at new ways to highlight this important issue and this is where the volunteers come in helping us in our roadshows and campaigns. They are a credit to the Trust."
Contact details
Julie Hughes, Infection Control Nurse Consultant
Julie.hughes@aht.nwest.nhs.uk
Terry Owen
Terry.owen@aht.nwest.nhs.uk
