EVALUATION OF THE OBJECTIVITY OF AN INFECTION-CONTROL AUDIT TOOL

A national study involving 22 districts was carried out during 1993 to evaluate an infection control audit tool. The tool was found to be ob jective and can be used by infection control teams to monitor practice s and assess the impact of training programmes. It can also be used to provide purchasers with a measurable standard in relation to infectio n control quality issues. In total, 440 wards were audited. A few dist ricts had problems in meeting some of the standards, particularly on s harps and waste. A subgroup of the West Midlands Infection Control Nur ses Association was able to adapt the audit tool for specialized areas including general practice, nursing homes and dentistry.