Infection Prevention and Control training
This training covers how we prevent and control infections in the care setting to keep residents, staff and visitors safe. You will learn about hand hygiene, personal protective equipment (PPE), cleaning procedures, and how to respond when infections occur. These practices protect everyone and meet our legal duties under the Health and Social Care Act.
What This Training Covers
A clear, practical grounding in infection prevention and control.
This training covers how we prevent and control infections in the care setting to keep residents, staff and visitors safe. You will learn about hand hygiene, personal protective equipment (PPE), cleaning procedures, and how to respond when infections occur. These practices protect everyone and meet our legal duties under the Health and Social Care Act.
Learning Outcomes
By the end, your staff will be able to:
What Your Team Will Learn
A closer look at the infection prevention and control module.
The module is built in short, practical sections. Each one teaches a part of the topic, then applies it to a real care scenario and checks understanding before moving on.
Why Infection Prevention Matters in the care setting
Infections can spread quickly in care settings because residents often have weaker immune systems due to age or health conditions. Our residents live close together and share common spaces. We have a legal duty under the Health and Social Care Act to protect people from avoidable harm, including infections. Good infection control saves lives and maintains dignity.
How Infections Spread: Breaking the Chain
Infections spread through a chain: a source (like an infected person), a route (like hands or droplets), and a susceptible person. We break this chain by removing the source, blocking the route, or protecting the susceptible person. Common routes include direct contact, droplets from coughs and sneezes, contaminated surfaces, and bodily fluids. Understanding this helps you know which precautions to use.
Hand Hygiene: Your Most Important Tool
Hand hygiene is the single most effective way to prevent infection spread. Wash hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, covering all surfaces including between fingers, thumbs, and under nails. Use alcohol hand gel only when hands are visibly clean. You must perform hand hygiene before and after every resident contact, before handling food or medication, after using the toilet, and after removing PPE.
Using Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Correctly
PPE creates a barrier between you and infection sources. Use disposable gloves and aprons for personal care, handling body fluids, or cleaning. Wear fluid resistant surgical masks for suspected or confirmed respiratory infections. Put PPE on before entering the care situation and remove it immediately after, disposing in the clinical waste bin. Never wear the same PPE between different residents. PPE works only if used correctly every time.
Standard Precautions for All Care
Standard precautions mean treating all blood and body fluids as potentially infectious, even when someone appears well. Always use PPE for contact with blood, urine, faeces, vomit, wound drainage, or broken skin. Cover your own cuts with waterproof dressings. Handle sharps safely and never resheath needles. Clean spills immediately with appropriate disinfectant. These precautions protect you and prevent cross infection between residents.
Recognising and Reporting Infections
Early detection of infection allows quick treatment and prevents spread. Watch for fever, new or worsening cough, confusion, reduced appetite, pain on urination, unusual tiredness, or changes in behaviour. Skin infections show redness, warmth, swelling or discharge. Report any concerns immediately to the nurse or manager. Never wait to see if symptoms get worse. Document what you observe clearly. Quick action can prevent a single infection becoming an outbreak.
Key Points Covered
The things your team must remember.
- Hand hygiene before and after every resident contact is the most effective infection prevention measure
- Use PPE for all contact with body fluids and change it between each resident
- Treat all blood and body fluids as potentially infectious using standard precautions
- Infections spread through hands, droplets, contaminated surfaces and body fluids, so break the chain at every opportunity
- Report any signs of infection immediately, including fever, new cough, confusion, or behaviour changes
- Our residents are vulnerable to infections due to age and health conditions, so prevention is essential
Who and how often
Infection Prevention and Control is refreshed every year, for the staff in your care setting whose roles require it.
CQC and standards
Supports the training evidence CQC expects to see for a well-run, safe care setting.
How CareStream Delivers It
Not a slideshow once a year. Training that sticks.
CareStream delivers infection prevention and control training in the hub your team already uses, grounded in best practice and your own policies, so it fits your care setting and not a generic template.
Teach, then assess
Short teaching sections and a real care scenario, then an assessment that checks understanding.
In any language
Staff complete it in over 60 languages, while your records stay in English.
Learn and retry
A wrong answer triggers a short follow-up lesson and a fresh question, so the gap is closed.
Renewals handled
Automatic reminders at 90, 30 and 7 days, with a live compliance dashboard.
FAQs
Frequently asked questions.
Give your team infection prevention and control training that actually sticks.
See how CareStream delivers your mandatory training in the hub, in any language.