Lambhill Court care home takes part in Scottish pilot to stop the spread of infections in care homes

Florence House, one of Lambhill Court care homes, has taken part in a pilot study to support infection prevention and control in care homes in Scotland.

The education programme was developed by NHS Education for Scotland (NES) in partnership with the Care Inspectorate.

Florence House has been working with their local care home education facilitator, Karyn Hamilton, to implement this programme.

Florence House is situated in Govan, about three miles from Glasgow city centre and has 55 large en suite bedrooms and three self contained flats.

Joan Sands, home manager at Florence House, said: ‘We were absolutely delighted to have been chosen by NES to be involved in the pilot study and evaluation and reported no seasonal outbreaks of influenza this winter. I believe that great people drive our success and I would like to thank all our staff who take great pride in delivering a quality service to all of the people we look after.’

She added: ‘Staff are very keen to participate in focus groups and training and are therefore encouraged and supported to achieve a higher standard in order to ensure the home continues to provide the best possible care. In addition to our Infection Control Group we also have a Nutrition Group and Nurturing Dementia Group and soon to be Continence Focus Group.’

Florence House’s infection control champion (ICC), Linda Conachan, worked closely with 30 staff over the course of three months to complete the Preventing Infection in Care Programme.

As part of an evaluation of the impact of this programme within the pilot sites, Linda and a team of five care assistants attended focus group meetings with other local care homes.

Ruth O'Neil, who facilitated the focus groups on behalf of NHS Education for Scotland, said: ‘I was delighted by the engagement and responses from the staff involved in the group.’

The Preventing Infection in Care Education Programme addresses the national and local priorities for infection prevention and control and extends throughout healthcare, health protection and health promotion.

The programme offers education to support Infection Control committees and teams co-ordinate and monitor all the detailed work of preventing and controlling infection through effective communication, education, and risk assessment. Teams can then consider quality improvement approaches through audit or surveillance, and review local policies and procedures to support their local practice.

Joan Sands, home manager at Florence House is pictured