Liyanage, C; Egbu, C and Tookey, J (2005) Investigating the current state of infection control practices in domestics services in the national health service in Scotland: A case study approach. In: Khosrowshahi, F (ed.) Proceedings of 21st Annual ARCOM Conference, 7-9 September 2005, London, UK.
Abstract
Healthcare Associated Infection (HAI) remains a worldwide problem. This paper is based on an on-going research project which aims to develop a Performance Management Framework for Facilities Management services in the control of Healthcare Associated Infections (HAI). With a focus on the area of FM, an attempt is made to understand how FM practices contribute the control of HAI. In the context of HAI, the research also attempts to explore the importance of both knowledge sharing practices (among the FM and clinical practitioners) and Performance Management (PM) practices in FM services. The arguments of contracting out versus in-housing domestic services in the control of HAI are presented. Domestic services in two hospitals were selected as case studies. The types of domestic services in the two hospitals are: (1) a totally in-house service and (2) a Private Finance Initiative (PFI contract). The main purpose of choosing the case study approach was to explore, in-depth, the practices of control of HAI in domestic services. The choice of two cases allowed for a comparison of these practices. Some findings of the case study approach carried out as part of the aforementioned research will be presented. The paper explicates the findings of the case studies in two parts; first it examines the context of control of HAI in the two cases and then identifies its similarities/ differences. Although both cases have identified the importance of control of HAI in domestic services, there were differences in practices mainly in terms of application and update of standards, integrating with the infection control teams and application of performance management approaches. For the reason that FM has a significant role in the control of HAI, it is concluded that there is a need to prioritise the profile of FM services in the HAI agenda. The crucial lesson from the study is the importance of better collaboration and co-ordination between infection control and facilities management teams. This provides significant efficiency gains from the contractual arrangements whether it is in- house or outsourced.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | case studies; facilities management; healthcare associated infections; integration; performance management |
| Index terms: | knowledge sharing, efficiency, facilities management services, performance management, health service, case study, facilities management, housing, performance management framework, collaboration, integration, private finance initiative, Scotland, practitioner |
| Subjects: | organizational analysis, management, performance measurement, public and environmental health, performance management, Geography, service delivery, contractual arrangements, knowledge management, data collection methods, construction type, practitioner |
| Topics: | Organizational Design, Quality Management, Roles and Professions, Procurement, Construction Technology, Health and Safety, Business Strategy, Information Management, Research Practice, Geographical Context, Project Management |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCE |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here