Infection Prevention Control

At Priory Medical Centre, the safety and wellbeing of our patients, staff, and visitors is our highest priority. As a values-led GP practice in the heart of Warwick, we are proud to uphold exceptional standards in Infection Prevention and Control (IPC), ensuring a clean, safe, and welcoming environment for all.

Our Commitment to Infection Prevention

We recognise that effective IPC is fundamental to delivering high-quality healthcare. Our approach is proactive, evidence-based, and fully aligned with national guidance from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), NHS England, and the Care Quality Commission (CQC). We are committed to:

Preventing the spread of infection within our practice
Protecting vulnerable patients and staff
Promoting best practice in hygiene and cleanliness
Responding swiftly and effectively to emerging risks

Our IPC Policy in Practice

Our Infection Prevention and Control Policy is reviewed annually and whenever new guidance is issued. It outlines clear responsibilities, procedures, and standards for all staff, including:

Hand Hygiene: Rigorous handwashing protocols are in place, supported by accessible hand sanitiser stations throughout the building.
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE): Staff are trained and equipped with appropriate PPE, with usage guided by risk assessments and clinical need.
Environmental Cleaning: Our dedicated cleaning team follows a robust daily schedule using NHS-approved disinfectants. High-touch surfaces are cleaned multiple times a day.
Clinical Waste Management: We ensure safe segregation, storage, and disposal of clinical waste in line with HTM 07-01 standards.
Infection Surveillance: We monitor infection trends and respond proactively to any outbreaks or concerns, including seasonal flu and other infections.
Staff Training: All team members receive regular IPC training, including updates on emerging pathogens and best practices.
Patient Education: We provide clear, accessible information to patients on how they can help prevent the spread of infection, including respiratory hygiene and vaccination.

Excellence in Action

Our commitment to IPC is reflected in our consistently high standards of cleanliness and safety, which have been recognised in previous CQC inspections. We work closely with our cleaning contractors and infection control leads to audit our environment regularly and implement continuous improvements.

We also take pride in fostering a culture where every team member—from clinicians to reception staff—understands their role in maintaining a safe clinical environment. This shared responsibility ensures that infection prevention is embedded in everything we do.

Working Together for a Safer Practice

We encourage all patients and visitors to support our IPC efforts by:

Using hand sanitiser on arrival and departure
Wearing face coverings when advised
Informing us if you have symptoms of infectious illness before attending the practice
Following any signage or staff guidance during your visit

Together, we can maintain a safe and healthy environment for everyone who walks through our doors.

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Our commitment to cleanliness

Cleaning summary

Keeping the NHS clean and preventing infection is everybody’s responsibility from the GP Partners to the healthcare cleaners. It is important for patients, visitors, the public and staff.

Cleanliness matters, and to ensure consistency throughout the NHS, and to support healthcare services, this commitment has been adopted in every organisation.

This Charter sets out our commitment to ensure a consistently high standard of cleanliness is delivered in all of our healthcare facilities. It also sets out how we would like you to help us maintain high standards.

We will:

Treat patients in a clean and safe environment and minimise exposure to healthcare associated infections.
Provide a well maintained, clean and safe environment, using the most appropriate and up to date cleaning methods and frequencies.
Maintain fixtures and fittings to an acceptable condition to enable effective and safe cleaning to take place regularly.
Allocate specific roles and responsibilities for cleaning, linked to infection prevention and control, that are underpinned by strong, clear leadership that encourages a culture where cleanliness matters.
Have clinical leads who will establish and promote a cleanliness culture across their organisation.
Constantly review cleanliness and improve performance.
Take account of your views about the quality and standards of cleanliness by involving patients and visitors in reporting and monitoring how well we are doing.
Provide the public with clear information on any measures which they can take, to assist in the prevention and control of healthcare associated infections.
Provide the public with clear and precise information relating to the potential risk of contracting a healthcare associated infection. This will include highlighting other helpful information sources so that patients and public can access up to date local data.
Provide structured and pro-active education and training to ensure all our staff are competent in delivering infection prevention and control practices within the remit of their role.
Design any new facilities with ease of cleaning in mind.

We ask patients, visitors and the public to:

Follow good hygiene practices which are displayed in and around the organisation.
Tell us if you require any further information about cleanliness or prevention of infection.
Work with us to monitor and improve standards of cleanliness and prevention of infection.

Infection Control Leads

Robert Massey-Ellis – Executive Director
Qusai Helo – Practice Nurse

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National standards of healthcare cleanliness 2025

Priory Medical Centre follow the NHS National standards of healthcare cleanliness 2025 as detailed here – NHS England » National standards of healthcare cleanliness 2025

Priory Medical Centre clean the premises in line with Cleanliness Standards FR2-FR6.

Please see below links to the Cleanliness Standards and our Commitment to Cleanliness Standards:

Infection prevention and control in our GP practice

Priory Medical Centre provides consistent and excellent infection prevention control as part of everyday practice to ensure those using our services receive safe and effective care.
Each area of the practice has its own cleaning specification adhered to by all practice staff and cleaners.
Our contracted cleaning company is Cleanse Medical who adhere to a full schedule of general cleaning.
Daily, weekly and monthly audits of standards of infection control are completed by practice staff.
All staff complete annual infection control training and access to relevant policies.
All staff adhere to the correct Personal Protective equipment guidelines.
All staff are appropriately immunised to keep themselves and other safe.
Regular infection control and hand hygiene events are held at the practice to raise awareness of its importance.
Information posters and guidance are situated throughout the practice to educate patients and staff.
Water testing and outlet monitoring takes place weekly by practice staff and annually by a regulated company.
Each area of the practice has a colour coding in line with the national colour coding scheme (as below).
We continue to ask patients to wear facemasks within the practice to protect themselves, staff and others.
If any poor infection control practice is noticed by patients, we encourage them to report this to the Executive Director.
All eligible patients will be contacted throughout the year to encourage relevant vaccination uptake.
Priory Medical Centre will be providing all seasonal flu and COVID-19 vaccinations to those eligible patients at the practice itself.
All patients are required to provide clinical specimens in appropriate containers to maintain sterility and adhere to infection control guidelines.
We ask patients to ensure that the correct waste streams are followed. All waste is disposed of by an appropriate waste contractor.

The practice leads for infection control are Robert Massey-Ellis (Executive Director) & Qusai Help (Practice Nurse).

Infection Prevention is for everyone.

Isolation areas

Should you have any signs or symptoms of severe diarrhoea, vomiting, Flu or COVID-19 please report these to the practice staff before attending the practice.

Please report any concerns about cleanliness in the practice to the reception team so that we can rectify any problems immediately.

National cleaning colour coding scheme – National patient safety agency

All cleaning items including cloths, mops, buckets, aprons and gloves should be colour coded as follows:
- Red
  - Bathrooms, washrooms, showers, toilets, basins and bathroom floors.
- Blue
  - General areas including wards, departments, offices and basins in public areas.
- Green
  - Catering departments, ward kitchen areas and patient food service at ward level.
- Yellow
  - Isolation areas.

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Certificates

Priory Medical Centre have obtained the a 5 Star Cleanliness Rating as of the last technical cleaning audit on 31/12/2025.

Please see here the 5 Star Cleanliness Rating certificate that expires on 31/12/2026 – PMC – NHS 5 Star Rating – exp 31 Dec 2026

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Annual Statements

Annual Infection Prevention Control statements will be generated each year in December, in accordance with the requirements of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 Code of Practice on the prevention and control of infections and related guidance. The report will be published on the organisation’s website and will include the following summary:

Any infection transmission incidents and any action taken (these will have been reported in accordance with our significant event procedure)
Details of any infection control audits carried out and actions undertaken
Details of any risk assessments undertaken for the prevention and control of infection
Details of staff training
Any review and update of policies, procedures and guidelines

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