Accreditation bodies assess infection surveillance on documented evidence of consistent practice. The data supporting the practice within health and pharmaceutical services is usually present but rarely assembled into a decision. Discussion is anchored to worked examples of this strand of health and pharmaceutical services rather than to abstract argument. Ambition around infection surveillance outruns capacity unless the sequencing is deliberate. It is appropriate for those preparing to take on wider responsibility for the wider health and pharmaceutical services agenda. They acquire practical criteria for judging when this strand of health and pharmaceutical services is working and when it is only appearing to. Applied research in health and pharmaceutical services consistently shows that early structure around infection surveillance reduces downstream rework. It treats the health and pharmaceutical services capability as an operating discipline and equips participants to run it as one. The course ends by identifying what the participant will stop doing to make this area of health and pharmaceutical services sustainable.
Expected Learning Outcomes
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Prepare the documented evidence accreditation assessors expect on infection surveillance.
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Agree the first three actions on infection surveillance that will be taken on returning to work.
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Measure patient experience of infection surveillance and act on what it shows.
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Build continuing professional development sustaining competence in infection surveillance.
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Apply a repeatable review cycle to infection surveillance and act on what it produces.
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Plan staffing and rota cover appropriate to demand in infection surveillance.
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Identify the failure points in infection surveillance most likely to cause loss, and control them first.