Greene, C. orcid.org/0000-0002-1170-376X, Wilson, J., Griffin, H. orcid.org/0000-0001-6874-9825 et al. (6 more authors) (2023) The role of pandemic planning in the management of COVID-19 in England from an infection prevention and control perspective: results of a national survey. Public Health, 217. pp. 89-94. ISSN 0033-3506
Abstract
Objectives This national survey aimed to explore how existing pandemic preparedness plans (PPP) accounted for the demands placed on infection prevention and control (IPC) services in acute and community settings in England during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Study design This was a cross-sectional survey of IPC leaders working within National Health Service Trusts or clinical commissioning groups/integrated care systems in England.
Methods The survey questions related to organisational COVID-19 preparedness pre-pandemic and the response provided during the first wave of the pandemic (January to July 2020). The survey ran from September to November 2021, and participation was voluntary.
Results In total, 50 organisations responded. Seventy-one percent (n = 34/48) reported having a current PPP in December 2019, with 81% (n = 21/26) indicating their plan was updated within the previous 3 years. Around half of IPC teams were involved in previous testing of these plans via internal and multi-agency tabletop exercises. Successful aspects of pandemic planning were identified as command structures, clear channels of communication, COVID-19 testing, and patient pathways. Key deficiencies were lack of personal protective equipment, difficulties with fit testing, keeping up to date with guidance, and insufficient staffing.
Conclusions Pandemic plans need to consider the capability and capacity of IPC services to ensure they can contribute their critical knowledge and expertise to the pandemic response. This survey provides a detailed evaluation of how IPC services were impacted during the first wave of the pandemic and identifies key areas, which need to be included in future PPP to better manage the impact on IPC services.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
---|---|
Authors/Creators: |
|
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2023 The Authors. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Keywords: | COVID-19 pandemic; Hospital preparedness; Infection control; Survey methods; Humans; COVID-19; Pandemics; COVID-19 Testing; Cross-Sectional Studies; State Medicine; Infection Control |
Dates: |
|
Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health (Sheffield) > School of Health and Related Research (Sheffield) > ScHARR - Sheffield Centre for Health and Related Research |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 21 Apr 2023 10:13 |
Last Modified: | 21 Apr 2023 12:51 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Elsevier BV |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.puhe.2023.01.028 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:198344 |