Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Teams across all the providers in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire have worked together to develop an innovative secondment role in IPC.
The successful candidate, in this case Francisca Nsabere, (pictured above) is employed by Sherwood Forest Hospitals Trust but is spending 12 weeks with each provider to give her experience in IPC across all the different settings, acute, mental health, community and commissioning.
The aim of the role is to prepare successful candidates for future IPC specialist roles which may arise in any healthcare setting. Also, it will give health professionals a distinct pathway to work experience and further experience in a specialism that is above and beyond a usual link clinician role. The idea was generated when it became apparent that all the provider IPC teams were finding it difficult to recruit to specialist posts because individuals didn’t feel they had the necessary skills to apply.
The benefits of this project are:
- Collaborative working across all providers to develop an innovative role.
- Upskilling staff with an interest in IPC enhancing their knowledge base regarding the variety of services covered and the distinct differences between working in IPC in NHS trusts versus independent contractors
- To provide experience to those staff looking to have a career in IPC.
- Improved IPC recruitment and retention
- Aligns with the need to bolster IPC workforces for the future (supporting ambition to reduce and avoid patient harm from preventable infections).
For any specialist team this could be an innovative way to generate an interest in your specialism and to prepare the future workforce for such roles.
Date published: 30 April 2025
