Outcome competences for practitioners in infection prevention and control

With our rapidly changing healthcare systems, a more fl exible response is required from infection prevention and control (IPC) practitioners to be able to address the challenges that healthcare associated infection presents. We are continually being pulled in many different directions in order to improve the quality of healthcare delivery and to respond to the patient safety agenda and the zero tolerance culture to healthcare associated infection. Infection prevention and control practitioners continue to play a key role in improving the safety and quality of care delivered to patients by providing clinical colleagues with robust expertise, advice, support and guidance enabling them to prevent and control healthcare associated infections. Competences were first developed and published by the Infection Control Nurses Association (ICNA) in 2000, followed by the second edition in 2004. These competences provided an overarching framework to enable IPC practitioners to develop and enhance their knowledge and skills to increase the safety and quality of patient care. Taking into account the changes in healthcare delivery throughout the United Kingdom (UK), the current political and economic drivers around healthcare associated infection and the evolving nature and diversity of infection prevention and control teams, we are now delighted to present the new competences framework developed by the Infection Prevention Society (IPS) the successor organisation to the ICNA. This framework has also been aligned with NHS Knowledge and Skills Framework and Skills for Health, National Occupational Standards