INOCULATION OF CULTURE PLATES - STRAIGHTFORWARD OR IS IT

In view of the recent vogue in some genitourinary medicine (GUM) units towards selective microscopy we aimed to assess the adequacy of cultu re plate inoculation in our own GUM clinic by the visual examination o f 350 consecutively inoculated plates. Seventy-five (21%) plates were inoculated so lightly that no indentation in the agar could be seen wh ilst in 20 (60%) the agar was shredded. Eighty-five per cent of inadeq uately plated samples were inoculated by the same staff members who we re either relatively inexperienced, or well-distanced from their last in-service training. This has many important implications not only in the identification and control of infection but also with respect to s taff training. We have now introduced practical plating instruction fo r all new members of clinical staff and additional in-service training . We plan to repeat the audit in 6 months' time to assess the effect o f these changes.