The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) has recently organized a three-day workshop on “Surveillance and Investigation of Healthcare-Associated Infections”, with the participation of about 85 healthcare professionals, infection control specialists, lab technicians, doctors, and other governmental, semi-governmental and private health institutions.
The workshop, which was held by the MoPH Infection Control and Prevention Team in cooperation with several local speakers and experts, aimed at identifying the best methodologies for surveillance and investigation of healthcare-associated infection cases and their role in patients protection and infection control and prevention in hospitals and health facilities, in addition to highlighting the optimal mechanism for implementing the surveillance process, mastering data collection, and identifying the proper data collection methods and techniques in health facilities and at the national level.
The workshop focused on highlighting dialogues and real examples of inf
ected patients, where participants were trained on the mechanism of conducting surveillance and investigation of acquired infections, in addition to exchanging experiences, acquiring information and skills among the attendees, and increasing their competencies so that they are ready to establish surveillance and investigation systems for healthcare-related infections in most healthcare facilities and contribute to the success of the comprehensive National Infection Prevention And Control Program.
During the workshop, the factors and risks contributing to the spread of infection were discussed, and the most prominent effective ways and strategies of infection prevention and control, as well as the components of the National Infection Prevention and Control Program, which includes the key elements of effective infection prevention and control developed by the World Health Organization. Additionally, the workshop highlighted the importance of understanding and interpreting the necessary data and reporting based
on key performance indicators that include hand hygiene practices, prevalence of inpatient exposure to MRSA or Clostridium Difficile, postoperative infection or surgical site infection, exposure to blood and body fluids (BBF), and antimicrobial resistance surveillance.
The workshop also reviewed the health service performance agreements (HSPA) and highlighted the best evidence-based practices for implementing the National Infection Prevention and Control Program.
Qatar’s National Infection Prevention and Control Program aims to implement technical guidelines and monitor infection control practices to improve health practices to reduce healthcare-related infections.
Source: Qatar News Agency