Supporting Infection Prevention and Control webinars

If you’ve been following our stories recently you will have seen that the QI Department have shared our learning on virtual working and our experience of running virtual learning events.

During April we have been able to bring this experience to support colleagues in the Infection Prevention and Control team with a series of daily webinars. The evolving response to the COVID-19 pandemic has needed regular updates to guidance, communication and opportunities to learn from others. Online webinars makes it possible to bring people together from across the organisation, so from early April we have been helping the Infection Prevention and Control team host daily COVID-19 and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Briefing and Question and Answer sessions using WebEx video conferencing.

It’s encouraging to see how the Infection Prevention and Control team have utilized #dailyimprovement (using quality improvement approaches in everyday work) to learn and iterate. The sessions were initially scheduled at 4.00pm daily, these have been well received. The frequency has now been reduced to 3 per week on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and the earlier time of 3.00pm, to better match shift patterns within the Trust. Some of the learning has been about how to promote these sessions using the daily Trust-wide communications briefing as well as other networks. The idea is that they happen at a consistent time on set days, and the web link for each event remains the same. This means that people have regular opportunities to connect with colleagues around COVID-19 and PPE issues, and to seek appropriate guidance from experts.

One of the most popular sessions was about Lessons Learned from a COVID-19 outbreak on one of our wards in Newham. Rana Begum, Trustwide Lead Infection Prevention and Control Nurse, and Tracy, Ward Manager of Sally Sherman Ward, shared the learning from the experience with over 50 guests.

The team will soon be promoting a schedule of events for the next two months, where a variety of themes will also be covered in the sessions, along with standard guidance. Along with open Q&A these will include:

Hand hygiene; PPE guidance on what to wear and when, including looking after your skin; PPE use – FRSM; Filtering Face Piece (FFP3)  Fit testing; The Challenges of COVID-19 and diabetes; COVID-19 Resuscitation of patients and infection control; Lessons learnt from Forensics; Clinical and waste management; Cleaning of the environment; De-isolation myth busting; Outbreak management PICU setting; Linen and laundry  management; Community mental health teams setting Q&A;  Community health service setting – Q&A; Clozapine clinics Q &A; Learning disabilities services Q&A; Decontamination of re-usable medical devices; Microbiology and why it matters; Medical management.

To find dates of the upcoming sessions, and when these topics will be covered, please consult the daily ELFT Coronavirus Staff Update email. Please share these events with colleagues so that we spread the learning as far as possible.  

For further guidance and information on infection control and COVID-19 please visit this section of the ELFT website.