ICNet aimed at cutting spread of infections from hospitals and surgeries
Health boards in Wales are to get an IT system designed to provide alerts of infections springing from healthcare sites, following a Welsh Government decision to invest £1.9 million from its Efficiency through Technology Fund.
Named ICNet, the system is expected to be in place by the middle of next year. It will provide surveillance and case management functions with the aim of reducing the risk of infections spreading to other patients, either in hospitals or buildings providing healthcare in the community.
Announcing the move, the Welsh Government said ICNet will be able to connect and interact with other national IT systems, including those for patient administration, laboratory reporting and surgery databases.
It will enable staff to monitor confirmed cases of infections such as MRSA that are known to spread in hsopitals, and provide a national picture of infection control across the country. Public Health Wales, the Welsh Government and health boards will all have access to the data.
Deputy Health Minister Vaughan Gething said: “The new national ICNet system will allow the Welsh NHS to track, prevent, control and manage healthcare-associated infections in real time. This will help improve patient safety by reducing preventable infection outbreaks in our hospitals.”
The system has been trialled across North Wales where it is claimed to have reduced the number of avoidable infections.
Image from the Welsh Government under Open Government Licence v3.0
