Prof. Surinder Pada1
1Ng Teng Fong General Hospital, Singapore
Biography:
Adj. Asst. Prof Surinder Pada is the Head of the Division of Infectious Diseases, Chairperson of the Infection Control committee as well as the Pandemic Chairperson of the Emergency Preparedness committee and is a Senior Consultant at Ng Teng Fong General Hospital and Jurong Community Hospital in Singapore. (Jurong Health Campus)
She graduated from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of New South Wales, Sydney and undertook most of her training in Australia. She was conferred as a fellow of the Australasian College of Physicians (FRACP) in 2009.
In 2013 under the auspices of Health Manpower Development Plan (HMDP) she completed a six-month fellowship at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore in Infection Prevention. Again in 2020, she was awarded a group HMDP where she studied waterless ICU systems and best practices in Infection Prevention in the Netherlands and Spain.
Adj. Asst Prof Pada was awarded the National Awards (COVID19) Public Administration Medal (Bronze) in 2022 for her tireless efforts in helping Singapore weather the storm of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a member of the National Infection Prevention Committee (NIPC) set up by the Ministry of Health Singapore, she is also involved in advising and driving policy change and has assisted in writing several policy and guideline documents. She is also an executive committee member of various societies and currently serves as the Vice President of the Infection Control Association of Singapore and as Treasurer of the Asia Pacific Society of Infection Control.
Her main interests in Infection Prevention are in renovation and construction of healthcare facilities, healthcare associated waterbourne issues and in pandemic planning.
Abstract:
Many outbreaks of gram-negative bacteria in healthcare associated setting have, on investigation, been linked to hospital water environments which serve as a reservoir for these pathogens. As our understanding of the pathogenic mechanisms via biofilm formation, the importance of plumbing systems and difficulties in decontamination continues to grow, the task of controlling these transmissions does seem daunting. Indeed, bringing these outbreaks under control, particularly in the ICU setting, has been challenging, with persistence of transmission even when the most stringent infection prevention standards have been applied. We discuss some of the technologies that are available, as well as implementation of programmes that may help reduce this bioburden. In particular, we will look at the role that hand hygiene sinks may play in such instances and describe our journey of removal of hand hygiene sinks within the patient room in our ICU as a means of reducing such infections.