Your December edition of the VICNISS eBulletin No Images? Click here The primary aim of VICNISS is to minimise the number of infections that are associated with healthcare in Victoria.IN THIS EDITION
Where does the year go? Christmas is almost upon us once again and here at VICNISS all the staff would like to thank you for all of your contributions during the year, and also wish you a very Merry Christmas and hope you get to relax and enjoy some time with family and friends. We also wish you a safe and Happy New Year. Our Newest Staff Member We are very pleased to announce that Maree Sommerville has joined the VICNISS team, coming on board on the 3rd December, just in time for our Christmas celebrations. Maree comes to us with an extensive nursing career having worked in infection control since 2001 (with a Graduate Diploma in Infection Control). Maree will be the primary contact for the private hospital surveillance program and is looking forward to guiding you all through the transition to working with VICNISS. Change at the helm Prof Mike Richards, who has been the director of VICNISS since its commencement, has just set off on a well earned break, taking leave and returning late 2019. In his absence A/Prof Leon Worth with take the helm as Acting Director of VICNISS. We wish them all well in their new ventures. VICNISS Manual Review1. Modules Reviewed Several chapters/modules in the VICNISS manual have been reviewed and should be used commencing January 2019. These include:
A summary of changes is now available on the VICNISS website (under News and Updates for Health Professionals) and these revised documents will be available on the website as of Monday 17th December 2018: If you need a copy of the supersede documents please contact VICNISS. The remaining VICNISS manual is currently being reviewed and an updated version will be available in July 2019. 2. Change to NomenclatureThe organism formally known as Enterobacter aerogenes has a new name: Klebsiella aerogenes. The new name is not available in the VICNISS website as yet. Please continue to enter the organism as Enterobacter aerogenes in all VICNISS forms. It is planned the forms (and reports) will be updated in July 2019. 3. Colorectal SSI Surveillance - Are you including the right procedures?VICNISS has recently reviewed procedure codes from surgeries that hospitals have included in the colorectal SSI surveillance module. Almost 16,000 surgeries from 28 hospitals have been submitted. Of these 66% recorded a procedure code (CMBS or ICD10 AM) or free text description. Data were reviewed and the findings included:
Please always ensure the surgery is included in the COLO procedure group. Inclusion of incorrect procedures increases your work load and may affect results. The procedure groups and corresponding, ICD10AM codes & CMBS codes are available on the VICNISS website. Hospitals are always encouraged to record the procedure code or description whenever possible. If you believe a procedure code should be included or not included on this list please contact VICNISS. ACIPC Conference, Brisbane, November 2018 Last month several of the VICNISS team travelled to Brisbane for the 2018 ACIPC Conference. Click on the link (VICNISS Website under "News and Updates For Health Professionals") to see a summary of key points Gold Standard Auditor Training Workshops 2019
13th & 14th February 2019, Bendigo Health, Bendigo 18th & 19th February 2019, Peninsula Health, Frankston 10th & 11th April, Alfred Health, Melbourne 16th & 17th May 2019, Goulburn Valley Health, Shepparton If you wish to attend any of these workshops in 2019, please register on the HHA website under Audits/Upcoming Workshops. If the dates or venue are not suitable for you please register on the Workshop Waitlist and you will be notified when the next workshop is confirmed. If your hospital would like to host a Gold Standard workshop in 2019, please contact Jennifer.bradford@mh.org.au. All that is required is a room booking for 2 consecutive days and up to four GSAs from your organisation to assist with the practical session for an hour on the second morning. Without your support the GSA workshops cannot run, so any volunteers would be much appreciated. Ageing and Skin Health SeminarPresentations are now available on the website. See link under "News & Updates for Health Professionals". Click here to view . Support Overwhelmed? Confused? Or just need some more help? VICNISS staff including Infection Control Consultants, Infectious Diseases Physicians, Epidemiologists and Information Technology staff are available for questions, surveillance related presentations for different groups or even individual site visits where required to guide you through your HAI surveillance matters. Contact VICNISS Confirmation emails As the VICNISS webforms are being updated, you will no longer receive confirmation emails when you submit a webform. These were initially sent out as it was hard for you to see your submitted records in the old webforms. Now each (updated) module has a search page showing you all the records you have submitted. If you need to print a record, find and open the record from the search page and then on the review page that opens – click the “printer” icon at the top right corner. There is an example below of a SAB - the red arrow points to the printer icon. Demographic update If you have had a change of CEO or Infection Control Staff, please forward new contact details to Andrea.brebner@mh.org.au Need Help?See details below on how best to contact us for any assistance you may require or click on the link to visit our website |