About

This app is an infection prevention practice support tool for all staff working in social care settings such as care homes and people’s own houses. It is based on the NES resource Preventing Infection in Social Care Settings (including community, care home and homely settings): A pocket book for staff.

All content aligns to the National Infection Prevention and Control Manual and Infection Prevention and Control Manual for Older People and Adult Care Homes (CH IPCM).

The purpose of the app is to support staff with accessible, practical, and current guidance on preventing infection and control in social care settings. The app is available as a web-based resource and can be downloaded on mobile devices, including phones.

This app aims to support:
• good practice
• ‘in the moment’ guidance for staff in their day-to-day work
• staff learning and professional development.

This resource has been developed by the Digital Health and Care Innovation Centre (DHI), NHS Education Scotland (NES) and the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) with the valued support of staff from the social care sector.

The app is continually being developed and updated to reflect current national guidance and best practice.

We are grateful for any feedback on the app and suggestions for future content. Please use this feedback link to send us your comments.

Disclaimer

The Digital Health & Care Innovation Centre within the University of Strathclyde provides this app/website to benefit health and social care organisations across Scotland.  Each individual participating organisation which contributes resources to the app/website has sole responsibility for the information created or published by them. Any information appearing on this site is issued as general information and does not constitute a warranty by  the Scottish Government or any other  organisation, nor should it be taken as advice. No responsibility can be accepted by the Scottish Government or any other organisation for action or inaction as a result of information contained on this app/website. Users should take advice from health and care professionals in respect of specific situations. The use and access of pages of this app/website is subject to the terms and conditions set out below and by this disclaimer. By using or accessing this app/website, you agree to be bound by these terms and conditions.

Copyright

Users should consult the copyright statements on the resources within this app/website.
Links to other Websites and applications
The provision on this app/website of a link to another website or application does not constitute any authorisation to access material held at that location. Links to sites are provided for informational purposes only and no responsibility is accepted for the quality of resources to be found on such websites. The contents and material made available on linked sites are completely out with our control and as such no liability is accepted for any damages resulting from accessing or failing to access these sites. No endorsement is expressed or implied by the presence of a link on this  app/website. The contents of a linked-to website may change without our knowledge and as a result, links may break or may terminate on pages which were not the original targets of a link. No responsibility or liability for the privacy of personal information is accepted for linked to websites, as these are beyond our control.

Warranties

The resources contained on this app/website, including all files that are authorised for public and password-protected download or access, are provided on an “as is” basis and without any warranties. No warranty is given that files downloaded or accessed from this  app/website are free of computer viruses. No warranties are made as to fitness for purpose, quality or completeness of information. This app/website excludes any liability for any errors in or omissions in information provided on or linked to from this website.

Reliability of information

The Digital Health & Care Innovation Centre uses its best efforts to ensure the accuracy and reliability of information on this app/website in accordance with the policies defined for this site. However, no guarantees are made that the information contained on this app/website  or associated, or linked to websites is accurate, complete and current at any given time. Information presented on this app/website  or associated sites may be changed at any time.

The resources made available on this app/website are intended to assist  health and social care professionals and citizens in Scotland and are for information only. The app/website is not intended in any way to replace the advice of health and care professionals.

Nothing on this app/website is intended to constitute advice. Specific advice should be sought in specific situations from a properly qualified health or care professional.

Users of this app/website agree to inform the Digital Health & Care Innovation Centre using the Contact us form  if they should come across any material contained which they consider to be potentially in breach of any relevant  policies or of any relevant legislation in order for the appropriate remedial action to be taken.

Availability of the app/website

Although this app/website has been tested and should work correctly under normal circumstances, there are many factors both within and outside of the control of this site which may prevent the app/website from being available to users of the world-wide-web. No responsibility is accepted by this app/website for any losses that may arise from an inability to access resources on this app/website. Where a user finds a specific error in the coding of a web page, or where he/she considers a page to be in breach of accessibility or other published policies of this app/website, it is a condition of use of this site that the web team be notified via the Feedback form in order that appropriate action may be taken.

Governing laws

The terms and conditions of use of this app/website shall be governed by the laws of Scotland.

We would like to acknowledge the support of our ‘user testers’ and staff from the social care sector who have contributed to the development of this app. Their support and time have been greatly valued.

Digital Health & Care Innovation Centre: This app/website has been developed as part of the National Decision Support Programme funded by Scottish Government as a key objective within Scotland’s Digital Health and Care Strategy. The programme is delivered by the Digital Health & Care Innovation Centre (DHI). The app and website have been built using the Builder toolset provided as part of DHI’s Right Decision Service.

NHS Education for Scotland (NES) is an education and training body and a national health board within NHS Scotland. We are responsible for developing and delivering healthcare education and training for the NHS, health and social care sector and other public bodies. We have a Scotland-wide role in undergraduate, postgraduate and continuing professional development.

The Scottish Infection Prevention and Control Education Pathway (SIPCEP) provides education resources for health and social care staff and students in Scotland.  It enables all Scottish health and social care staff and students to continuously improve their knowledge and skills around infection prevention and control as part of their role and provides flexible access to resources for all. For further information please visit the NES IPC Zone https://learn.nes.nhs.scot/2482

SSSC are the regulator for the social work, social care and children and young people workforce in Scotland. SSSC register social workers, social care and children and young people workers, setting standards for their practice, conduct, training, and education and by supporting their professional development. Staff learning and development is supported in many ways, including through free resources such as this app. For further information on learning resources please visit the SSSC Learning Zone.

Tactuum Ltd: Provide the technology and digital expertise to deliver Right Decision Service tools for the National Decision Support Programme.

© NHS Education for Scotland 2023. You may copy or reproduce the information in this document for use by health and social care staff in Scotland and for non-commercial educational purposes. Use of this document for commercial purposes is permitted only with the written permission of NES. 

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial- NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0). To view a copy of this license visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/