Infection Prevention and Control and Healthcare Associated Infection (HAI) Surveillance and Reporting Policy
Version 1.0 approved 18 June 2024
The Infection Prevention and Control and Healthcare Associated Infection (HAI) Surveillance and Reporting Policy (PDF 369KB) sets out the mandatory requirements that apply across SA Health in relation to infection prevention and control (IPC) and healthcare associated infections (HAI) through SA Health’s adoption of the National Safety and Quality Health Service (NSQHS) Standard on Preventing and Controlling Infections. Implementation of the NSQHS Standards is mandated by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (ACSQHC) in all hospitals, day procedure services and public dental services across Australia.
Applicability
This policy applies to all employees and contracted staff of SA Health; that is all employees and contracted staff of the Department for Health and Wellbeing (DHW), Local Health Networks (LHN) (including statewide clinical services aligned with those Networks) and SA Ambulance Service (SAAS).
Surveillance and data reporting requirements for healthcare associated infections and hand hygiene apply to the applicable LHNs/hospitals in accordance with national and state key performance indicators (KPI) and surveillance programs.
Out of scope for this policy is:
- Notifiable disease reporting, as this must occur in accordance with the South Australian Public Health Act 2011.
- Antimicrobial stewardship, for requirements refer to the SA Health Antimicrobial Stewardship webpage including the Antimicrobial Stewardship Policy.