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The prevention of in-dwelling, catheter-related urinary tract infections — the outcome of a `performance improvement' project

Urology department, Ashford Hospital, Ashford, Middlesex TW15 3AA

A. Wellsted

Urology department, Ashford Hospital, Ashford, Middlesex TW15 3AA.

This article aims to show that by making a small change in practice (in this case the introduction of a silver/hydrogel-coated catheter), by using a performance improvement approach a 60.6% reduction in hospital-acquired, catheter-related urinary tract infection was achieved. Apart from the obvious benefits to patients, in an era where bed shortages are an everyday occurrence and budgets are always stretched significant cost savings and reduction in bed occupancy was achieved. The article describes the process of performance improvement, which is an ideal vehicle for any infection control initiative. Without the strict constraints associated with clinical research, performance improvement encourages all grades of staff to participate in projects of varying complexity.

Key Words: Performance improvement project • catheter-related urinary tract infection • silver-hydrogel catheter

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