Aims of the group:

The group aims to share best practice with respect to infection prevention & control between the critical care units in Greater Manchester; it also aims to have establish a working diagnosis of ventilator associated pneumonia that can be used by the different units in Manchester so that they can audit their rates of VAP. The group also aims to share best practice in implementation of preventative measures to stop patients developing VAP and to make sure that it is correctly treated when it occurs.

The main objectives of the group are:

• To improve infection control and treatment in critical care
• Share best practice with respect to infection control and reduction of infection
• Share infection control problems to help find solutions to those problems
• Bench mark infection rates and compare how different units are doing
• Produce audit and teaching resources that can be shared with other units
• To explore using the purchasing power of several critical care units to control costs of disposables and drugs
• To carry out pilot projects and disseminate their results

The group is chaired by Dr Sengottiyan Chandrasekaran, Consultant in Intensive Care at Stepping Hill hospital - please email him if you would like to join the group. 

Sengottiyan.chandrasekaran@stockport.nhs.uk

To access the Google group and Drop Box associated with the group please email: tthomaswork@ntlworld.com