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17 Nov 2017
Effective infection prevention and control is central to providing high quality healthcare for patients and a safe working environment for those that work in healthcare settings.
The Podiatry Board of Australia (the Board) expects podiatrists and podiatric surgeons to practise in a way that maintains and enhances public health and safety by ensuring that the risk of the spread of infection is prevented.
To support practitioners in taking necessary, feasible steps to prevent or minimise the spread of infection the Board has developed a self audit tool that podiatrists and podiatric surgeons can use as a checklist to see how well they comply with the Board’s Guidelines: Infection prevention and control.
Originally published in March 2016, the Board has reviewed the self-audit tool to ensure its relevance to practitioners and the public.
The updated version includes an additional point to address potential infection prevention and control risk for podiatrists who use multi-use scalpel blade removal systems. The self-audit tool now asks practitioners whether there are policies in place to ensure scalpel handles are not re-used after removal of the blade using a multi-use scalpel blade removal system. It also highlights that a reusable scalpel handle must be sterilised before re-use if the blade has been removed using a multi-use blade removal system.
Practitioners are encouraged to access the updated self-audit tool which is published on the policies, codes and guidelines page of the Board’s website, together with the Guidelines: Infection prevention and control.