Wow what an amazing May and June for the weather. Sunshine and warmth for such a continuous period of time and no doubt many of us are grateful for air conditioning!
Here is your bi-monthly dose of what the CSC committee have been considering and doing.
Feel free to forward this along to colleagues who may not have heard about us yet!
Tribute
Dear members and friends, it is with great sadness that we inform you of the passing of Tom Hall.
Tom was an AE(D) with over thirty years of experience in healthcare and a long standing member of the CSC.
His kind character shone through with his smile, always ready with a joke, advice or a kind word in any situation.
He will be deeply missed and the committee would like to send our caring thoughts to his family at their time of sorrow.
Tom Hall AE(D) – 23rd May 1952 – 1st June 2023
CSC Activities
No sooner had the Annual Scientific Meeting come and gone the CSC committee were working hard on pulling together the programme for the Autumn Study Day 2023.
The theme of the day is “ Decontamination – Dare to Defy the Dogma” promoting creative thinking towards complex challenges and asking the question, ‘Is it time to push those invisible boundaries of tradition, what has become the ‘norm’ in the pursuit of patient safety outcomes?’
You can see the programme and purchase tickets for the event here. Please remember you need to either be logged in to your account or create an account to complete the purchase.
If you weren’t able to attend the Annual Scientific Meeting you can now purchase access to either individual recordings or the whole Day 1 / Day 2 recordings by going to our Shop page.
What we’re listening to
So much of what we do is focused on quality systems but for these systems and processes to work efficiently and effectively it requires human intervention. So it was really interesting coming across the Infection Control Matters podcast where Martin Keirnan interviewed Dr Lamia Alam from John Hopkins University about their study on Human factors and cleaning in the perioperative setting.
Martin and Dr Alam discuss a Human Factors Engineering (HFE) model called ‘System Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety’ (SEIPS) which consists of three core characteristics of HFE:
- Using a systems approach
- Being design-driven
- Focusing on both system performance and human well-being
As cleaning is an element of the decontamination process of RMD is it possible that this model could be applied in any department to help overcome practice challenges?
What we’re reading
Since there’s a high level of focus on sustainability activities and it’s a relatively new topic for many, easily misunderstood. We must be mindful that every action or inaction has consequences. The climate change crisis isn’t ‘new’, it has been a topic that some such as this author Paul Hawken have been pursuing since the early 1970’s.
Reading this book provides a new approach to environmental changes through the lens of putting ‘life’ at the center of every action and decision.
Another quick read
If you’ve missed the news about the launch of a £1.7bn decontamination framework you can read it here.
As a reminder of, and an example of what to expect at our study days, here’s a great article discussing the presentation from Paul Chivers, one of our speakers at the October 2022 Autumn Study Day published in the March 2023 issue of HEJ.
To clarify any confusion as to whether it’s the ‘Annual’ study day or ‘Autumn’ study day, we hold two events a year and they are the Annual Scientific Meeting and the Autumn Study Day.
What quote we’re pondering
Related to the Infection Control Matters podcast above part of the discussion centered around feedback and having no feedback. The point being that if we are not undertaking surveillance or measuring the impact of interventions we don’t know that we have a problem! So this month’s quote is courtesy of Martin Keirnan.
What other events are upcoming
Authorising Engineers Conference 2023, Epsom Downs racecourse, Surrey, 11th July 2023
Federation of Sterilizing research and Advisory Councils of Australia (FSRACA) National Conference, Centrepiece at Melbourne Par, Victoria Australia, 9th – 11th August 2023
Healthcare Estates Conference, Exhibition and Awards, Manchester Central, 10th to 11th October
IP2023 15th Annual Conference, The ACC in Liverpool, 17th to 19th October
WFHSS Congress 2023, Brussels, 17th-20th October
17th IDSc Annual Conference, Hilton Birmingham Metropole, 28th-29th November
Put this date in your diary…
The CSC Annual Scientific Meeting 2024 will be held on Monday 15th and Tuesday 16th April 2024. More details to follow in due course
Let us know what you’re thinking
Thanks again to our members for all your support.
Please let us know what you think about this news bulletin.
If you have any recommendations for reading or listening resources then please contact Becky via email at [email protected]
Wishing you all a super summer.
The CSC Committee
