The Healthcare Commission is to carry out unannounced inspections at 120 NHS trusts over the coming year in its biggest ever crackdown on healthcare-associated infection.
The Commission will check compliance with the Government's Hygiene Code, which outlines 11 compulsory duties to prevent and manage healthcare-associated infections such as MRSA and Clostridium difficile.
The Commission will use data on rates of infection to identify trusts that may not be meeting requirements and carry out visits accordingly.
The Commission's assessment managers will from today (Monday) visit about 10 trusts per month. Most visits will be to acute trusts, which provide services based in hospitals. This means up to two-thirds of all acute NHS trusts will be inspected as part of the initiative.
Assessment managers will look at the cleanliness of the hospital's environment as well as practices and procedures that are in place to prevent and manage infection. For example, assessment managers will be looking at procedures for isolating patients, hand-washing and for the cleaning of equipment.
The Commission will examine whether trusts have proper organisational systems in place and whether infection control is a priority. For example, trusts are required under the Code to have infection control teams. They should also table regular reports with the board so there is 'board to ward' accountability for reducing risk of infection.
Where the Commission identifies breaches of the Code, it will require trusts to outline an action plan to rectify problems within a specified time.
Trusts must assure the Commission that the breach has been rectified or that systems are in place to reduce the risk of it happening again.
Failure to provide this assurance will result in the Commission publicly issuing an "improvement notice", which requires trusts to make immediate improvements. The ability to issue improvement notices is a new legal power that was given to the Commission under the Health Act 2006 to enforce the Hygiene Code.
If a trust does not adequately respond to an improvement notice, the Commission can ask the Secretary of State to impose special measures and oversee a programme of improvements in the trust.
Anna Walker, Chief Executive of the Healthcare Commission, has this week written to all chief executives of NHS trusts informing them of the programme of visits.
Ms Walker said: "Boards at all acute trusts must take notice: chances are you're going to be assessed against the Hygiene Code, so make sure you're ready. We don't want to catch trusts out. We would much prefer to find that everything is in place to protect patients and the public."