Mrs Lisa Summers1, Mrs Josephine Martin, Ms Kerrie Benson
1Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Nedlands, Australia
Biography:
Lisa Summers is the Coordinator of Nursing for Infection Prevention and Management at Sir Charles Gairdner and Osborne Park Healthcare Service. Together with Clinical Nurse Specialist Kerrie Benson and Jo Martin, they support a keen and developing IPM team.
Abstract:
Background
The Sir Charles Gairdner and Osborne Park Healthcare Group, Infection Prevention and Management (IPM) Unit provide services in a busy and complex environment. Over time, the unit has continued to absorb increasing service demands, hospital expansion and evolving healthcare standards. In February 2022 the West Australian COVID-19 hard boarder restrictions eased and by June, team burn-out was evident with a voluntary attrition rate of 56%. The loss of experience and corporate knowledge further contributed to underproductivity and clinical risks.
Method
Commencing in 2020, annual service reviews to increase resources, were declined. In 2024, a change in executive leadership provided an opportunity for an independent reassessment. Benchmarking against other hospitals and undertaking a gap analysis against the national healthcare standards, identified seven IPM high risks aligned to patients, staff, corporate reputation, finance and strategic deadlines. Using the new governance processes, risks were formerly escalated from the IPM Committee to the Clinical Governance Committee. This resulted in an invitation to present to the peak organisational governing committee and submit a business case for change.
Outcome
With Directorate support, IPM have successfully accessed the circle of influence. Risk and governance processes have provided quantifiable transparency to perceived issues experienced by the under resourced IPM team. This has resulted in an increase of IPM staff. While recruitment remains ongoing and at times challenging, the IPM unit is beginning to see success in meeting their IPM plan. They continue to use this governance process to escalate wins and concerns.