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Date set for new NHS infection-fighting service |
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Royal Hospital for Children and Young People, Edinburgh
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A new national service to reduce the risk of infections in hospitals is to launch in April.
The centre, which will be called NHS Scotland Assure, was pledged in September 2019 in the wake of high-profile infection failings at hospitals in Glasgow and Edinburgh.
NHS National Services Scotland, which is hosting the service, says it will bring together a “unique” mix of professionals in engineering, healthcare science and infection prevention and control.
Recruitment has begun with roles advertised including nurse consultants and fire safety advisors and more set to be added.
‘NHS Scotland Assure has applied recent findings from all relevant reports to ensure every lesson has been learned to increase levels of patient safety,’ one advert states.
The new service promises to ensure consistency in the application of construction guidelines across Scotland to increase ‘public and professional confidence’.
It was pledged in 2019 as part of the Scottish government’s 2019-20 programme for government.
This came after concerns about failings in infection control and patient deaths at Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital and a last-minute delay to the opening of the new Royal Hospital for Children and Young People in Edinburgh.
An evaluation by KPMG found a “clear picture of human error and confusion over interpretation of standards and guidance” at NHS Lothian, which was responsible for building Edinburgh’s Sick Kids hospital.
Meanwhile an interim report produced by a Scottish government oversight board looking at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow said there had been an ‘absence of national guidance in some areas’.
A public inquiry is currently underway into issues at both major hospitals.
As part of steps to improve governance, NHS Scotland Assure is to have ‘joint accountability along with NHS Boards for sign-off of key programme stages’ and will work with Healthcare Improvement Scotland, which inspects hospitals.
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