Halton Region provides infection prevention guidelines for healthcare professionals to reduce disease transmission, including best practices, templates, and safety tips.
The Provincial Infectious Diseases Advisory Committee on Infection Prevention and Control (PIDAC-IPC) has developed evidence-based guidance documents for healthcare providers. Regulatory colleges, including the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario and the Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario, require their members to adhere to PIDAC recommendations.
Public Health Ontario has prepared checklists for healthcare professionals to conduct self-assessments of their IPAC practices. These checklists are also used by public health inspectors and regulatory colleges when doing inspections and investigations related to IPAC practices.
Healthcare professionals are encouraged to follow these tips for safe IPAC practices:
Healthcare settings should have written policies and procedures describing how IPAC practices are implemented in the workplace, as described in the PIDAC best practice documents. The templates below are a starting point for regulated health professionals and workplaces to begin developing their own policies and procedures specific to their practice. The templates should be dated, signed and amended to reflect the specific activities that occur in the healthcare setting. They should be reviewed regularly to ensure they are up to date. Additional IPAC-related policies and procedures may be required depending on the setting.
Halton Region Public Health works with healthcare professionals to support IPAC best practices through education, guidance and enforcement.
Halton Region Public Health is not mandated to routinely assess IPAC practices in facilities where regulated health professionals operate. However, the health unit has a provincially mandated responsibility to investigate matters related to IPAC lapses and enforce IPAC best practices in accordance with the Health Protection and Promotion Act, R.S.O. 1990, C. H.7 and Protocols published under the Ontario Public Health Standards.
As per the Infection Prevention and Control Complaint Protocol, 2019, Halton Region Public Health must investigate complaints about improper infection prevention and control practices or cases in which reportable diseases may be linked to the activities of regulated health professionals. Investigations may be conducted independently by the health unit or as a joint investigation with a regulatory college(s). If an IPAC lapse is identified and there is risk of disease transmission, Public Health must ensure that corrective action is taken, and publicly disclose the lapse as per Infection Prevention and Control Complaint Protocol, 2019. When a lapse involves a regulated healthcare professional, Halton Region Public Health is also required to notify their regulatory college.
Public Health Ontario offers free online modules that provide additional training on IPAC Core Competencies, IPAC Risk Assessment, and Reprocessing in Community Healthcare settings.