Department of Health

Website of the Department of Health

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Key publications

  • Last modified date:
    30 July 2008

Listeria - keeping food safe

Published: 31 July 2008

The Department of Health and the Food Standards Agency are reminding those involved in the provision of food in healthcare settings of key steps they can take to minimise the risk of listeriosis. A fact sheet has been produced to raise awareness and provide general information on the key steps to minimise the risk of listeriosis from chilled ready-to-eat foods.

Resistance alert: High-level azithromycin resistance in Neisseria gonorrhoeae

Published 4 April 2008

Alert notice from the Health Protection Agency.

Mandatory surveillance data system - changes to admission date field

Published 31 March 2008

Letter from the Inspector of Microbiology concerning changes to the admission date field to help identify which cases are in-patients.

Publication of Clostridium difficile surveillance data

Published 15 February 2008

Letter from the Inspector of Microbiology setting out the Department’s plans for publication of the Clostridium difficile surveillance data in April and July 2008.

Third prevalence survey of healthcare associated infections in acute hospitals in England 2006

Published 12 September 2007

Aggregate results of the Healthcare Associated Infections Prevalence Survey conducted in Acute Trusts in England on 2006

Further 'Winning Ways' for Directors of Infection Prevention and Control

Published: 8 May 2007

The Department is undertaking a review of the role and responsibilities of Directors of Infection Prevention and Control. This letter outlines the context and scope of this work and invites all DIPCs to attend an initial workshop in June.

Health, safety and security measures for microbiology laboratories

Published: 7 March 2007

This document collates guidance information from a number of advisory/regulatory bodies together in one document as a practical aid for microbiology laboratories. It is available in electronic format for direct reference and for downloading, but will not be distributed in hard copy to microbiology laboratories.

Replacement of Hycolin

Published: 5 March 2007

The manufacturers of Hycolin recently announced that they were ceasing production and supply of the product which is widely used for disinfection in Microbiology laboratories, especially where work is being done with mycobacteria. The Health Protection Agency has reviewed the potential alternative disinfection agents and has produced a Risk Alert notice giving advice to HPA Laboratories.

Molnlycke products: supply position

Published: 27 February 2007

Recently Molnlycke announced that it was to discontinue a range of products, including Betadine Surgical Scrub, Aquasept and Betadine Alcoholic Solution. As the result of a consultation with the NHS, Molnlycke has now reviewed its supply position

Pathology modernisation and networking for medical microbiology

Published: 10 January 2007

A report on the Inspector of Microbiology and Infection Control's visits to former SHAs to collate information on progress with pathology modernisation in relation to clinical and health protection microbiology services.

Transport of infectious substances - best practice guidance for microbiology laboratories

Published: 7 June 2007

This document aims to offer practical advice regarding the transport of clinical microbiology specimens from the general practitioner’s surgery through to referral of cultures to reference laboratories. It is available in electronic format for direct reference and for downloading, but will not be distributed in hard copy to microbiology laboratories.

Immunisation against infectious disease - the Green Book

Published: 21 December 2006

The new 'green book' guidance on immunisation has been published on the DH website. It is available in electronic format for direct reference and for downloading, but will not be distributed in hard copy to Microbiology Laboratories. Laboratories may find it helpful to download a copy for their reference/on call files so that the guidance is readily available. 

Bugalert

8 December 2006: Laboratory-acquired TB infection following a needlestick injury

A microbiology laboratory has reported a needlestick injury to the palm of the hand that occurred while sub-culturing a known-positive BacT/ALERT TB culture bottle when working in a safety cabinet.

8 December 2006: Healthcare associated infections, in particular infection caused by Clostridium difficile

Letter from the Chief Medical Officer, Chief Nursing Officer, Chief Pharmaceutical Officer and the Chief Executive of the NHS to all Trust, PCT and SHA Chief Executives.

13 November 2006: Suspected blood culture contamination problem (Paecilomyces variotii)

Laboratories who have identified this mould since the beginning of July 2006 are kindly requested to contact Colin Campbell at the Centre for Infections tel: 020 8327 7146. Laboratories should carefully question the clinical significance of any Paecilomyces spp. identified

The health protection functions of NHS diagnostic microbiology laboratories

Published: 6 July 2006

This document proposes clarification of these outputs expected of laboratories in relation to funding from the HPA and the NHS, which should lead to more transparent and flexible funding arrangements and a more level playing field in terms of opportunities for NHS microbiology departments to participate in HPA-funded health protection work. It represents best practice guidance for the delivery of the health protection aspects of medical microbiology services.

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