INFECTION-CONTROL IN GENERAL-PRACTICE - RESULTS OF A QUESTIONNAIRE SURVEY

Background Infection control is an important aspect of quality of care . General practitioners (GPs) have a high throughput of patients, some attending because of a communicable disease, others for investigation s or minor operations. This situation provides an opportunity for the spread of infections. This study looked at the development of practice policies on infection control and the need for further information an d guidelines. Methods A postal questionnaire was sent to 117 practices in a single Family Health Services Authority. The questionnaire conta ined sections to be completed by a GP and a practice nurse in each sur gery. Results A response rate of 74.5 per cent was obtained. Of the pr actices replying, 85 per cent did not have a written infection control policy. Sterilization of instruments was carried out in over 90 per c ent of surgeries. Autoclaves were used in almost four-fifths of these practices; most did not have any written procedures covering their use . Few practices provided information on procedures for infected patien ts or staff. A third of practices did not have a needlestick policy, a nd sharps incidents were not recorded in 42 per cent of surgeries. Thr ee-quarters of practices said that they would welcome guidelines on in fection control. Half of the practice nurses thought that more trainin g on infection control was required. Conclusions The need for more tra ining and the implications of the information from the study on the de velopment and implementation of guidelines are discussed. Recommendati ons are made which aim to increase the awareness of this issue by mean s of guidelines and training focused on practice nurses.