Nursing & Health

This quarterly surveillance report provides an overview of the Tasmanian acute public hospitals healthcare associated infection surveillance. The TIPCU website (www.dhhs.tas.gov.au/tipcu) contains details of the surveillance program and the methodologies used in data collection, validation and analysis. These details are not contained in this report but are freely available online should further information be required.

The purpose of this review is to describe some of the main methodologies currently used in assessing environmental cleanliness as well as document current local, national and international practices.

This annual report provides an overview of the Tasmanian acute public hospitals healthcare associated infection surveillance. This complements the quarterly surveillance data reports that the Tasmanian Infection Prevention and Control Unit (TIPCU) has been publishing since March 2009. The TIPCU website (www.dhhs.tas.gov.au/tipcu) contains details of the surveillance program and the methodologies used in data collection, validation and analysis. These details are not contained in this report but are freely available online should further information be required.
Any form of comparison between hospitals should be done with extreme caution and direct comparisons are not recommended. Information about how Tasmanian rates compare with those of other Australian states (where available), are provided in the Key Points sections of this report. The Appendices in this report contain more detailed information.
Compared to the quarterly reports published by the TIPCU, this report contains some additional detail, such as infection rates by financial year and antimicrobial use. From this report, the following findings can be made:
• The rate of healthcare associated Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia remains low.
• The rate and number of both hospital identified Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) and healthcare associated – healthcare facility onset Clostridium difficile infection (HCA – HCF CDI) are similar to those in the previous quarter.
• The occurrence of vancomycin resistant enterococcus remains low.

This annual report provides an overview of the Tasmanian acute public hospitals healthcare associated infection surveillance. This complements the quarterly surveillance data reports that the Tasmanian Infection Prevention and Control Unit (TIPCU) has been publishing since March 2009. The TIPCU website (www.dhhs.tas.gov.au/tipcu) contains details of the surveillance program, including the rationale for the indicators surveyed and the methodologies used in data collection, validation and analysis. These details are not contained in this report but are freely available online should further information be required.

This surveillance report describes data relating to a number of key Healthcare Associated Infection (HAI) indicators. The Tasmanian Infection Prevention and Control Unit (TIPCU) publish this report quarterly. The TIPCU website (www.dhhs.tas.gov.au/tipcu) contains details of the surveillance program, including the rationale for the indicators surveyed and the methodologies used in data collection, validation and analysis. In addition, an explanatory document has been developed to accompany this surveillance report. Any form of comparison between hospitals should be done with extreme caution and direct comparisons are not recommended. Information about how Tasmanian rates compare with those of other Australian states are provided in the Key Points sections of this report. The Appendices in this report contain more detailed information. The key findings of this report are: • The rate of healthcare associated Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia remains low. • In Quarter 1, 2014, there was an increase in hospital identified Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) and healthcare associated – healthcare facility onset Clostridium difficile infection (HCA – HCF CDI). • The occurrence of vancomycin resistant enterococcus remains low. • The Tasmanian hand hygiene compliance rate increased in the latest data collection period and exceeds the national threshold level.

This surveillance report describes data relating to a number of key Healthcare Associated Infection (HAI) ‘indicators’. It is the intention of the Tasmanian Infection Prevention and Control Unit (TIPCU) to publish this report quarterly.

Healthcare associated infections continue to cause substantial patient morbidity and costs to health services. This document to reduce the incidence of these infections in Tasmania by developing a high quality, consistent infection prevention and control strategy across the state. In the past few years, Tasmania has been actively engaged in prevention through the work of the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Healthcare (ACSQHC). This strategy complements and supports the work of the ACSQHC, as well as National Safety and Quality Standards for Healthcare Services. The strategy outlines the overarching objectives for HAI prevention in the coming years. Specific aims for the TIPCU and the THOs are subsequently detailed.

This report provides an overview of the Tasmanian acute public hospitals healthcare associated infection surveillance. This report contains the following findings:

-The rate of healthcare associated staphylococcus aureus bacteremia (SAB) remains low

-There has been a small decrease in the number of community associated SAB during 2014-15

-The number and rate of both 'hospital identified Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) and healthcare associated-healthcare facility onset (HCA-HCF) are lower in 2014-15 compared to 2013-14.

-The number of new isolates of VRE have increased over the first two months of 2015.

-There remains room for improvement in the judicious use of antibiotics, in line with best practice, in some Tasmanian acute care settings.

-All hospitals have a hand hygiene compliance rate above the National Benchmark of 70 per cent.

This quarterly surveillance report provides an overview of the Tasmanian acute public hospitals healthcare associated infection surveillance. The TIPCU website (www.dhhs.tas.gov.au/tipcu) contains details of the surveillance program and the methodologies used in data collection, validation and analysis. These details are not contained in this report but are freely available online should further information be required. Any form of comparison between hospitals should be done with extreme caution because data are not adjusted for patient characteristics that varies between hospitals. Further, the relatively small Tasmanian population and small number of events can result in volatility of rates from time to time. The raw data in the Appendices illustrates this. Information about how overall Tasmanian rates compare with those of other Australian states where available, are provided in the Key Points sections of this report. This report demonstrates the following findings: • The rate of healthcare associated Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia remains low. • The rate and number of both hospital identified Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) and healthcare associated – healthcare facility onset Clostridium difficile infection (HCA – HCF) have decreased in Q1 2015 compared with Q4 2014. • The number of vancomycin resistant enterococcus identified has continued to increase.