Infection Prevention and Control

What is this service?

We give advice on the prevention and control of healthcare associated infections to Bristol Community Health staff and to the people who use our services. General advice and information about infectious diseases in the community is provided by another service called The Health Protection Unit.

Bristol Community Health acknowledges its duty to protect patients, staff, carers and visitors from the risk of avoidable healthcare associated infection. We are committed to ensureing that safe working practices are utilised by those providing healthcare services to our patients.

We have in place suitable systems, processes, and robust control of infection policies and a nominated Executive Director Lead for Infection Prevention and Control, as listed in the 'our team' section below. This makes us compliant with the requirements of the Health and Social care Act (2008) Code of Practice for the NHS on the Prevention and Control of Healthcare Associated Infections and Related Guidance. You can download a copy of this Act and also of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) Guidance on Preventing Infections in Community Patients from the 'Document Downloads' section on the left of this page.

Who is this service for?

• Bristol Community Health staff
• Users of services provided by Bristol Community Health

Our Infection Prevention and Control Team

Our Infection Prevention and Control Team are based at: South Plaza, Marlborough Street, Bristol, BS1 3NX. The team members are:

• Dr Mark Kingston, Interim Director of Infection Prevention and Control (DIPC) and Director of Quality and Assurance / Medical Director
• Debra Nicholson and Wendy Briggs, Infection Prevention and Control Specialist Practitioners
• Tracy Evans – Admin Support

The teams working hours and contact details are:

Wendy Briggs

• Hours:
• Monday: 9am - 5pm
  Tuesday: 9am - 6pm
  Wednesday: 9am - 2:30pm
  Thursday: 9am - 5pm
• [email protected]
• 0117 900 2622

Debra Nicholson

• Hours: Tuesday - Friday: 8am - 4pm
• [email protected]
• 0117 900 2607

Tracy Evans

• Hours: Monday - Friday 8am - 4.30pm
• [email protected]
• 0117 984 1672

Information on specific infections

Information on specific infections such as Clostridium Difficile, MRSA and Norovirus is available to download in our 'Document Downloads' section on the left side of this page.

Hand washing

One of the most important ways in which we can all help to reduce the spread of healthcare associated and other infections, is by washing our hands efficiently and at the appropriate time.

To visit the NHS Hand Washing website, which has lots of useful advice on how and when to wash your hands, plus the consequences of poor hand hygiene, please click here.

To watch the NHS Hand Washing video, click here.