Infection Control Nurse

My name is Raymond Pickles and my role is Infection Control within the hospital a setting. I do however, go out and visit rest homes and other care facilities if needed.

At TDH, as in many hospitals, a dedicated Infection Control nurse gives advice on minimising the risks of infection occurring in individual patients, and on preventing the spread of infection between them. The Infection Control Nurse also provides information leaflets and is available to respond to enquiries from patients, relatives/whanau and members of the public.

The last few years have seen a rise in the number of strains of bacteria - such as MRSA & ESB's that are resistant to conventional antibiotics. These organisms present novel challenges to infection control teams.

Another key part of infection control is good hand hygiene, which helps prevent the transfer of infection from one patient to another, and TDH will be one of the first centres to take part in the national hand hygiene project which is being rolled out to all DHB's in 2008 & 2009. Joining the national campaign helps TDH consolidate and reinforce its previous efforts, and by ensuring that there is a consistent approach across all DHB's hospitals, all staff will be constantly reminded of the importance of hand hygiene. Staff can all help to improve practice wherever they work, by acting as good role models in hand hygiene, by showing support to other staff, and by being receptive to patients asking staff to clean their hands

Contact details:

06 8690500 Extn 8561