Infection Control Matters

This is our traditional end of year Christmas special. In this episode we consider highlights from year and have a bit of fun - including a stakeout in London. We talk about our views on the most significant systematic review, our favourite presentation/poster, RCTs would like to see and predictions for 2026.

In this episode, Martin talks to Dr Jon Otter, Director of Infection Prevention and Control at Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital in London, UK. We examine two complementary pieces of work that provide further insight into Candidozyma auris transmission in acute hospitals. The first demonstrates, for the first time in the UK, that ward-level wastewater reliably mirrors patient colonisation and can reveal genetically related outbreak strains using culture and PCR. The second, a case–control study, identifies clinical and environmental risk factors that shape colonisation, highlighting the significance of shared patient equipment. The paper can be found here: Davidson HC, Griffin AE, Symes L, Laing KG, Witney AA, Gould K, et al. Detection of Candidozyma (formerly Candida) auris from ward wastewater during an outbreak using culture and molecular methods. J Hosp Infect 2025. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhin.2025.10.024  A copy of the poster can be downloaded here

In this episode, Martin speaks with Helen Dunn, Consultant Nurse at Great Ormond Street Hospital, a Children's Hospital in London, UK. Helen is the lead author of a recent study published in the Journal of Infection Prevention, exploring whether structured ward rounds can be used as an innovative method for delivering Infection Prevention and Control education directly in the clinical environment. This work implemented a bedside ward-round model with Band 6 nurses in a paediatric cardiac high-dependency unit, using a structured assessment tool to prompt real-time, patient-focused discussions. The findings highlight that this approach created frequent education opportunities, strengthened relationships between clinical teams and IPC practitioners, and reduced the number of IPC interventions required over time. Dunn H, Blackburn P, Cloutman-Green E. Can ward rounds be used by infection prevention control teams to deliver education and enhance knowledge to clinical staff. J Infect Prev 2025;26(6):17571774251366930. https://doi.org/10.1177/17571774251366930. Article on Schulman's Signature Pedagogies here

In this episode, Martin spoke to the authors of two compelling posters showcased at the 2025 Infection Prevention Society Conference in Brighton, each discussing practical, data-driven approaches to reducing avoidable harm. Download the posters and have a listen to two authors with a passion for their projects. First, Catherine Lemsalu, a Dental Nurse from the IPC Team at University Hospital Plymouth discusses her quality-improvement work on an acute stroke ward, demonstrating how structured mouth-care assessment, targeted staff education, and consistent daily oral care contributed to reductions in non-ventilated hospital-acquired pneumonia and Clostridioides difficile infections. Her poster highlights how simple, early interventions—done well—can strengthen antimicrobial stewardship, improve patient outcomes, and build ward-level capability through mouth-care champions. We then explored the development of a national surveillance framework and digital tool for vascular access device–related bloodstream infections (VAD-BSI) with Sue Rowlands from The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust. Their multidisciplinary initiative has created a standardised, user-friendly approach to classifying VAD-BSI, identifying risk factors, and generating automated visual outputs that support local reporting, audit, and education. Early pilot data show strong usability, enhanced insight into bloodstream infection epidemiology, and meaningful impact on line-care practice. Posters can be downloaded here: Reduction of hospital-acquired pneumonia and Clostridioides difficile infections through focused line care Developing a surveillance framework and digital tool for Vascular Access Device-Related Bloodstream Infections (VAD-BSI): improving patient safety through local data and national insight

In this episode, Brett and Martin discuss a few posters that interested them from recent major infection prevention conferences. Brett was at the ICPIC Conference in Geneva and found plenty of interest in the Innovation academy.  Tracing hand pathogen transmission with and without hand hygiene with a newly developed DNA-encapsulating Lipid Nanoparticle system  Innovative FFP2 procedural mask for safer high-risk procedures A new medical mask made of filtering, transparent and ecofriendly material AI for healthcare-associated infection Martin was on his travels as well and recorded a few discussions with poster presenters at the 2025 Infection Prevention Society conference at Brighton in the south of the UK (more in the next episode). On this occasion he spoke to Frances Butson from the IPC Team at Gloucester Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in the UK. We discussed a new approach to providing the hospital board with assurance of best practice by having 'bottom-up' local assessments rather than using a more traditional IPC team approach. Additionally, to foster better communications in the organisation the team there have a local podcast called IPC In Action, which can be found here: https://shows.acast.com/ipc-in-action-podcast and also on Youtube etc. The poster can be found here: