The Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) has today published a guide to the Authority’s review of antimicrobial stewardship provision in public acute hospitals.

In line with HIQA’s responsibility for monitoring compliance against the National Standards for the Prevention and Control of Healthcare Associated Infections, HIQA has developed an inspection programme focused specifically on antimicrobial stewardship in public acute hospitals. The inspection programme will consist of two parts; a process of self-assessment followed by announced inspections in a selection of hospitals.

HIQA’s Director of Regulation, Mary Dunnion, said: “Antimicrobial resistance is a challenge affecting the entire health service. After a period of time, resistance emerges in antibiotic use. Antimicrobial stewardship acts to combat this resistance by ensuring the value of antimicrobial agents currently in use is preserved for as long as possible through careful and expert usage.”

Antimicrobial stewardship refers to a set of coordinated strategies which aim to improve the quality of use of antimicrobial medications, with the goal of enhancing patient health outcomes, reducing adverse effects, reducing the emergence of resistance, and reducing healthcare costs.

All 49 public acute hospitals in the country will be expected to complete a self-assessment and submit it to the Authority. Hospitals are expected to have a wide programme of infection prevention and control already in place.

HIQA will then carry out announced inspections in 14 of the 49 hospitals to verify results and gain an understanding of how antimicrobial stewardship is conducted in various settings. These actions will inform HIQA’s review of antimicrobial stewardship in 2015.

Mary Dunnion added, “It’s important to ensure that every patient receives the right antimicrobial therapy, at the right dose, route and duration, for the right infection type at the right time. This review intends to identify and share good practice, and identify opportunity for improvement where it exists for the benefit of collective improvement across the system.”

The findings of the review will be made publicly available and published on the Authority’s website, www.hiqa.ie, with an anticipated publication date of Q1 2016.

Ends.

Further Information: 

Suzanne O’Brien, Communications Manager, HIQA
01 814 7488 / 087 624 1216 sobrien@hiqa.ie

Notes to the Editor: 

• The self-assessment tool will be sent to each hospital via email. The hospital will have a period of 28 working days to complete and return the questionnaire to the Authority via email only to qualityandsafety@hiqa.ie. The questionnaire is in the form of an interactive PDF, which allows for direct data entry.
• HIQA will carry out announced inspection in approximately 14 hospitals to verify findings from the self-assessment exercise. Each inspection will be announced to facilitate each hospital in coordinating attendance of key personnel on the day of inspection. Each inspection will be conducted over the course of one working day, and HIQA’s requirements from each hospital - in terms of personnel that are required for interview, additional documentation and data, or other sources of information - will be requested in writing in advance of the inspection date. It is anticipated that announced inspection will commence in Q3 2015.
• On the completion of both parts of this regulatory review (the self-assessment process and onsite announced inspections), the Authority with collate findings and create a single assurance report.