Infection Control and Prevention

Infection prevention and control is a core safety responsibility in every health and social care setting. Poor practice can lead to avoidable infections, outbreaks, harm to vulnerable people, staff sickness, service disruption and regulatory concerns.

This course gives learners a clear, practical understanding of infection prevention and control in everyday care. It explains how microorganisms spread, how the chain of infection can be broken, and how standard infection control precautions should be applied consistently.

Learners will cover hand hygiene, respiratory hygiene, PPE, cleaning, laundry, waste disposal, safe handling of sharps, body fluid spillages, food hygiene awareness, staff health, vaccination awareness, and recognising infection risks. The course also introduces transmission-based precautions and what staff should do when infection is suspected or confirmed.

The content is aligned with recognised UK expectations, including the Health and Social Care Act 2008 Code of Practice on the prevention and control of infections, CQC infection prevention and control expectations, UKHSA/DHSC adult social care IPC resources, NICE infection prevention guidance, and the NHS England National Infection Prevention and Control Manual for England. The NHS England manual describes standard infection control precautions as measures used by all staff, in all care settings, at all times, whether infection is known or not.

Aim

The aim of this course is to give learners the knowledge and confidence to reduce infection risk through safe, consistent and person-centred infection prevention and control practice.

Scope

This is an awareness-level course. It is suitable for staff who need to understand and apply everyday infection prevention and control principles within their role.

The course covers general IPC practice, including routine precautions, risk recognition, safe hygiene, PPE, cleaning, waste, reporting and escalation.

It does not replace employer-specific competency assessment, clinical skills training, specialist IPC lead training, outbreak management training, aseptic technique competency, wound care competency, catheter care competency, or local policy training. Learners must follow their employer’s policies, risk assessments and local IPC procedures.

Who can attend

This course is suitable for:

What this course covers

This course covers:

1. What infection prevention and control means.
2. Why IPC matters in health and social care.
3. The chain of infection and how transmission occurs.
4. Standard infection control precautions.
5. Hand hygiene and respiratory hygiene.
6. Personal protective equipment.
7. Safe use and disposal of gloves and aprons.
8. Cleaning, decontamination and environmental hygiene.
9. Safe management of linen and laundry.
10. Waste disposal and body fluid spillage awareness.
11. Sharps safety and exposure incidents.
12. Recognising signs of infection and deterioration.
13. Transmission-based precautions and isolation awareness.
14. Outbreak awareness and escalation.
15. Staff health, sickness reporting and vaccination awareness.
16. Recording, reporting and professional responsibilities.