Healthcare Associated Infection strategy - second phase deliverables impact assessment: progress report - March 2025

3. Policy Objectives

The HCAI Strategy aligns with the current Programme for Government by prioritising patient safety, improving healthcare quality, and reducing infection rates across healthcare and social care settings. By focusing on enhanced IPC measures, the strategy supports the government's commitment to delivering high-quality health and social care services. Additionally, it contributes to the national indicator by ensuring safer environments in health and social care settings, thereby promoting public health, reducing health inequalities, and improving overall population health outcomes.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had an unprecedented impact across health and social care and, as Scotland emerges from the most significant public health crisis of our time it is important to continue to build upon the appetite for effective IPC measures to reduce HCAIs and contain AMR.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring the safety of our patients, service users and health and social care staff. As such, we have expanded the strategy to be inclusive of social care settings and have prioritised policies aimed at restoring the progress disrupted by COVID-19, with a particular focus on enhancing patient and service user outcomes.

Some of the challenges associated with IPC and HCAI reduction are not solely restricted to infection prevention. NHS and social care capacity, the ageing built environment, and staffing levels are a few areas that require wider whole-system leadership and change.

The Second Phase of the HCAI Strategy

The second phase has mirrored the development of the first phase and has created new deliverables in line with the seven strategic goals to support whole system IPC improvement.

The second phase deliverables are inclusive of health and social care services and have been developed in close collaboration between Scottish Government Directorates of the Chief Nursing Officer, and Social Care and National Care Service Development.

In June 2024, the Scottish Government reviewed the progress made on the first phase deliverables of the HCAI Strategy. The review concluded that all the 30 deliverables have been progressed with six being identified as complete from the first phase (detailed in Annex A).

Terms of References are established for all IPC programmes, including the UK AMR National Action Plan and the Infection Prevention Workforce Strategic Plan. ARHAI Scotland’s IPC delivery programmes also have Terms of References. This ensures objectives, roles, responsibilities, deliverables, and governance, alignment among stakeholders, and a structured approach to achieving desired outcomes in all IPC programmes.

The National Infection Prevention and Control Manual (NIPCM) and the Care Home Infection Prevention and Control Manual (CH IPCM) are in place and provide IPC guidance in relation to health and care home settings. There is no longer COVID-19 specific IPC guidance in place, the Scottish Government and partner agencies (ARHAI Scotland and Public Health Scotland) remain engaged in monitoring and responding to ongoing infection threats.

The HCAI/AMR Policy Unit has also engaged in the development of Scotland’s first ever Pathogen Genomic Strategic Plan, which was published in July 2024 and can be found at the following link: Pathogen Genomic Strategic Plan.

The Scottish Government developed the second phase deliverables (Annex B) in consultation with stakeholder partners to ensure that they were relevant, achievable and ultimately met the overall aim of the strategy.

The second phase focuses on supporting national groups and processes by promoting collaboration among various health and social care bodies and stakeholders. This phase involves strengthening existing networks, offering targeted support to NHS boards and enhancing the involvement of key stakeholders in driving improvements across health and social care. The emphasis is on ensuring that national policies are effectively implemented at the local level, with a strong focus on continuous monitoring, evaluation, and improvement, to further reduce infections across Scotland.