Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to increase (a) awareness and (b) optimum management of prosthetic infection in all healthcare settings.

Ensuring that healthcare staff have the requisite skills and training to implement and improve infection prevention and control (IPC) practices is the responsibility of each employer. The NHS England National Infection Prevention and Control manual (NIPCM), is an evidence-based practice manual that seeks to promote a common understanding, leading to improved knowledge and consistency of application of IPC practices. The manual supports the system in implementing IPC improvements aimed at minimising infection risk and meeting the ambitions set out in the United Kingdom’s 2024 to 2029 antimicrobial resistance national action plan across England.

In general, the management of prosthetic infection in all healthcare settings consists of surgery and antimicrobial therapy, with the approach depending on the timing and microbiology of infection, implant condition, soft tissue envelope quality, and individual patient circumstances.

Getting It Right First Time is an improvement programme within the National Health Service led by frontline clinicians designed to improve the quality of care within the NHS by reducing unwarranted variations. By sharing best practice nationally, it identifies changes that will help improve care and patient outcomes and delivers efficiencies such as the reduction of unnecessary procedures and cost savings.

The UK Health Security Agency manages the national Surgical Site Infection Surveillance Service (SSISS). This service enhances the quality of patient care by providing hospitals with a framework for collection and comparison of their rates of SSI against national benchmarks. The information is used to review and guide clinical practice to reduce the risk of infection following surgery. There are 17 categories of surgery under surveillance by hospitals, which include hip and knee replacement. For all NHS hospitals undertaking orthopaedic surgery, mandatory surveillance is carried out in at least one orthopaedic surgical category each quarter of the financial year, with hip and knee replacements being the most numerous. The service also encourages voluntary surveillance, which includes limb amputation.