NHS staff celebrate being first in the region to gain specialist infection prevention qualification

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A group of staff from the South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, which provides mental health and learning disability services in Calderdale, Kirklees and Wakefield, have been celebrating after successfully completing a level two City and Guilds award in the prevention and control of infection.

The members of staff, who work in support services across the Trust, are the first people in the region to gain the qualification and will now be instrumental as infection prevention and control champions in cascading their newly acquired knowledge throughout the teams they work in.

The qualification offers candidates the opportunity to demonstrate and champion their evidence based learnt knowledge in infection prevention and control. The members of staff who took part in the course had to demonstrate this knowledge in effective infection prevention and control practice in their work areas as part of their learning.

Infection prevention practitioners at the Trust Ali Perring and Lynne Hartley said, "Effective infection prevention and control systems are essential to ensure that people who use health services receive safe care. This award enables support staff to understand the principles of infection prevention and control and the importance of using these skills practically in their routine practice. We have enjoyed working with the candidates and our colleagues in order to spread the word not the germs. The candidates have all worked extremely hard and we look forward to working with them all in the future as our infection prevention and control champions."

The award is a nationally recognised qualification and is made up of seven credits in line with the qualification framework structure. It is designed to provide learners with a detailed understanding of the aspects of infection prevention and control and relevant legislation. It focuses on linking theory to practice and is targeted at anyone working in the health or social care sector, and provides an ideal route for candidates wanting to progress their learning.

The Trust’s acting director of nursing, compliance and innovation Gill Green was on hand to present the candidates with their certificates. She said, "This is a fantastic achievement for each member of staff and it is great to see such strong examples of partnership work between the NVQ and infection prevention and control teams. The knowledge they have each gained from this training can now be used to spread good working practices across the Trust and within their teams."

NHS staff celebrate being first in the region to gain specialist infection prevention qualification

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