The Hospital Surveillance &Infection Control Program supervised by an Infection Control Committee was started in 2011. An Infection Control Team (ICT) comprising of an Infection Control Officer (ICO) and two trained Infection Control Nurses (ICN) monitors and documents all events related to the control of Nosocomial Infections (NI) such as proper hand hygiene, use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), proper methods for insertion and maintenance of intravenous lines and catheters, proper cleaning and maintenance of the hospital environment, active and passive surveillance for nosocomial infections such as Ventilator Associated Pneumonia (VAP), Catheter Associated Urinary Tract Infections (CA UTI), Skin and Soft Tissue Infections (SSTI) and Catheter Associated Blood Stream Infections (CA BSI). Surveillance of kitchen staff and food handlers and Central Sterilization Supply Department (CSSD) and Laundry is also carried out.
Active surveillance is in the form of daily rounds by the ICN with active intervention and the calculation of various parameters ranging from hand hygiene compliance rates to Indicator nosocomial infection rates, such as, ICU VAP rates, CA UTI rates, etc.A yearly antibiogram is published and circulated to the various departments, thus keeping track of changing susceptibility patterns of organisms with regard to type of infection and wards.
The ICT also ensures proper Biomedical Waste (BMW) Management as per the 1998 BMW (Management & Handling) Rules. The ICT monitors and documents the health and safety, especially with regard to needle-stick injuries, of hospital staff, their vaccination status and takes measures for prompt and appropriate intervention when needed. The ICT also conducts frequent training programs for all categories of hospital personnel and Nursing Students,to keep them updated about the best practices in the Hospital Infection Control Program.
Future plans are acquisition of equipment capable of strain-typing of organisms causing NIs. In this regard, a step has been made with the acquisition of the Vitek MS (MALDI TOF). This instrument has the capability to identify and type (to a certain extent) organisms causing NIs.