The renal unit set up an infection control strategy in 2007. This was to reduce the rates of hospital acquired infections contracted by patients who were being cared for in our unit.
A multi-disciplinary team consisting of nephrologists, members of the nursing staff and the microbiology consultants meet weekly to review all the positive blood cultures on the unit in the preceding week.
Since 2007, the remit has also extended to reviewing all the positive swab cultures.
The team have developed and implemented a number of new protocols and processes such as:
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Protocol for insertion of non-tunnelled dialysis lines
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Protocol for insertion of tunnelled dialysis lines
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Protocol for the care of dialysis lines within the first two weeks following insertion
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Protocol for the chronic care of dialysis lines.
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New protocol for the treatment of dialysis line related bacteraemias
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A new scoring system for dialysis catheter exit-site infections.
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The use of a citrate based anticoagulant solution for maintaining the patency of dialysis lines.
Following the introduction of these various measures, we have seen a significant reduction in the number of infections (exit-site and bacteraemias) in our dialysis patients. This is all the more poignant, as it has happened in spite of the fact that the number of patients undergoing haemodialysis has continued to increase over the same time period.
