Australia RACGP Standards for After-hours and Medical Deputising Services (5th edition) AHS4.1: Infection prevention and control, including sterilisation: a clinical team member leads infection prevention and the supply of sterile equipment; the service has a written service-specific infection control policy and a team member who educates staff; everyone manages cross-infection risk through hand hygiene, personal protective equipment, safe handling of sharps and waste, cleaning of equipment, vehicles and premises and precautions for infectious patients; patients are told about respiratory etiquette and hand hygiene; and when sterile items are used the sterilisation load number is recorded in the patient's record with the patient's name logged against the load

What does AHS4.1 require?

Infection control travels with the practitioner. The service names a clinician responsible for coordinating infection prevention and control and for ensuring an adequate supply of sterile equipment, whether reprocessed under a validated process or single-use, and a clinician responsible for staff education. A written infection control policy specific to the service covers hand hygiene including alcohol-based rub for visits, standard and transmission-based precautions, PPE, sharps and clinical waste carried from homes, spills, cleaning of equipment, bags and vehicles as well as premises, precautions for potentially infectious patients, management of exposures, and the reprocessing or sterilisation process with its validation and records, consistent with the RACGP infection control guidance. All team members apply these methods. Patients are informed about covering coughs and hand hygiene. Whenever a sterile item is used, the load number printed on the sterile barrier packaging is entered in the patient's record and the patient's name recorded against that load in a sterilisation log, so a failed load can be traced to every patient.