From May 23rd-26th, GAMA Healthcare in partnership with ACIPC, held their first face-to-face IPC Tour in over two years. Run over four days in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth, 270 delegates attended in person, with over 800 registering for our online webinar. Keynote speakers Martin Kiernan and Professor Brett Mitchell, as well as local IPC experts, presented from each state, with the full-day seminars covering a range of contemporary topics and recent developments in IPC.

From our Keynote Speakers

Martin Kiernan provided some fascinating insights into the history and development of multi-resistant organisms (MROs) in healthcare and the ever-growing concerns surrounding the continual rise of multi-resistant gram-negative bacteria strains. It was discussed that secondary to their promiscuous nature and the sharing of resistance, we are seeing more Carbapenem resistance, with very limited treatment options for those infected. Martin gave some valuable lessons on the importance poor hospital design may play in the transmission of MROs and that source control, environmental decontamination & communication with other facilities is still critical in dealing with issues surrounding MROs.

Professor Brett Mitchell presented some fascinating information on MROs and the strong epidemiological evidence we have that supports prior room occupancy and the risk of MRO acquisition. As much as we already know about cleaning, many studies focus on environmental services, and Brett highlighted how healthcare workers’ own understanding, views and practices of cleaning varied greatly.

For those interested in how isolation may reduce transmission and infection, especially in healthcare facilities with low single room availability, it is well worth looking at Brett’s second presentation as it also presented some intriguing evidence to support the adoption of ‘Rediroom’ as a potential cost saving decision in Australian healthcare facilities.

Building a Business Case with Martin Kiernan and Matt Hyland

Martin and Matt collaboratively presented and provided valuable strategies for building a business case, helping IPC teams get approval for funding and vital resources. By looking at key components to be included in a business case and which key stakeholders should be included, Martin and Matt’s presentation is a valuable resource for anyone looking at building a business case and can be accessed from the link below.

Other topics of interest

With a vast array of guest speakers from each state, attendees were provided with a wealth of knowledge and expertise in a range of contemporary IPC topics that would be impossible to cover comprehensively in this article. We heard about the challenges we currently face in IPC and lessons learnt throughout the pandemic and as we emerge at the other side. Strategies on how we can nurture new practitioners in the current climate and the role of Respiratory Protective Devices (RPDs) in healthcare settings were also topics of note.

Some fascinating presentations also explored bloodstream infection reduction strategies in healthcare, why Clostridium difficile has become the major pathogen it is today and finally, the challenges faced when selecting a cleaning agent for use within an organisation.

Panel discussions held each day were an invaluable and popular resource that enabled attendees to ‘pick the brains of all the expert speakers on matters that were at the forefront of their minds for all things IPC-related.

Final thoughts

As much as we gained invaluable knowledge from the seminars and all our speakers, it was great to be able to come together and meet face-to-face again finally. One of the greatest positives many of us took from the IPC tour was connecting with colleagues from near and far and sharing some of the struggles and triumphs we have all been through over the last couple of years.

For those that would like to view any of the presentations or recordings (Perth & Brisbane), these can be accessed via the link.