Guidelines

Guidelines -

• Antimicrobial stewardship: Guidance for all healthcare settings

Infection Control Guiding Principles for Buildings: Acute Hospitals and Community Health and Social Care Settings

02, Apr 2025
470.3 KB

Framework for HSE National Programme for Surgical Site Surveillance – Pilot through the Irish Hip Fracture Database (IHFD).

File Size: (2.7 MB)
Publication Date: 08 February 2024

Guideline on Terms of Reference for Community Healthcare Organisation (CHO) Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) and Antimicrobial Stewardship (AMS) Committees

File Size: 164 kb
Publication Date: 13 February 2023

Guideline on Terms of Reference for Hospital Group Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) and Antimicrobial Stewardship (AMS) Committees

File Size: 258 kb
Publication Date: 13 February 2023

Guidance on Balancing Competing Demands in Relation to Restrictions on Bed Use Related to Infection Prevention and Control in Acute Hospital settings

File Size: 268 kb
Publication Date: 14 December 2022

Guide to prioritisation of patients for single room isolation when there are not sufficient single rooms for all patients that require isolation

File Size: 267 kb
Publication Date: 14 December 2022

Core Infection Prevention and Control Knowledge and Skills: A framework document

File Size: (751kB)
Publication Date: May 2015

Guidelines for hand hygiene in Irish healthcare settings (2015) Update of 2005 guidelines

File Size: (1MB)
Publication Date: January 2015

Guidelines for the Prevention and Control of Infection from Water Systems in Healthcare Facilities

File Size: (1.4MB)
Publication Date: 2015

Infection Prevention and Control for Primary Care in Ireland, a Guide for General Practice

File Size: (1.9MB)
Publication Date: April 2014
The Infection Prevention and Control Guidelines for Primary Care have been produced under the auspices of the National Clinical Programme for HCAI & AMR prevention in collaboration with the Irish College of General Practitioners. These guidelines provide advice for infection prevention and control in Irish general practice and includes information on: How might a patient acquire an infection while in the general practice environment? Details of Standard & Transmission based precautions including hand hygiene, Personal protective equipment (PPE) Audit tools to assess current practices and plan for future practice development and training Staff immunisation Management of sharps, blood and vomit spills, clinical waste Decontamination of reusable medical equipment Cleaning and/or decontamination of common items of medical equipment and the general practice environment

National Clinical Guidelines on the Surveillance, Diagnosis and Management of C. difficile Infection in Ireland (Reviewed and Current as of 10/07/2024)

File Size: (2MB)
Publication Date: 12 June 2014
The National Clinical Guidelines No. 3 on the Surveillance, Diagnosis and Management of C. difficile Infection in Ireland is currently under review. Treatment guidance in this document is now superseded by Clostridioides difficile infection treatment guidance available on antibioticprescribing.ie. IPC guidance in this document is also now superseded by National Clinical Guidance No. 30 Infection Prevention and Control

Guidelines for Control and Prevention of Multi-Drug Resistant Organisms (MDRO) Excluding MRSA in the Healthcare Setting

File Size: (1.9MB)
Publication Date: Updated July 2014
In July 2014, the MDRO Committee published an update to Section 3 ‘Resistant Enterobacteriaceae’, specifically new guidelines on screening for carriage of resistant Enterobacteriaceae in Ireland’. This new guidance is published as a separate document to accompany the existing MDRO guidelines and it may be downloaded at the link below.

Screening for Carriage of Resistant Enterobacteriaceae in Ireland - updated guidelines

File Size: (349kB)
Publication Date: Updated July 2014

Guidelines for the Prevention of Catheter-associated Urinary Tract Infection

File Size: (1.5MB)
Publication Date: September 2011

Guidelines for the prevention of ventilator-associated pneumonia in adults in Ireland

File Size: (903kB)
Publication Date: 30 March 2011

Prevention of Intravascular Catheter-related Infection in Ireland – Summary of Recommendations

File Size: (1.1MB)
Publication Date: Updated September 2014

Prevention of Intravascular Catheter-related Infection in Ireland – Full version of the National Guidelines

File Size: (2.1MB)
Publication Date: Updated September 2014

Infection Prevention and Control Building Guidelines for Acute Hospitals in Ireland (2009)

File Size: (1.34MB)
Publication Date: 2009

Infection prevention and control guidance for aircraft personnel

File Size: (132kB)
Publication Date: January 2013

Analysis tool for investigating cases of Healthcare Acquired Infections, Version 1

File Size: (927kB)
Publication Date: January 2014

Additional Guidelines

The following guidelines are also relevant to infection control teams:

National Guidelines for the Control of Legionellosis in Ireland, 2009

File Size: (2Mb)
Publication Date: September 2009

Guidelines on Minimising the Risk of Transmission of Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies in Healthcare Settings in Ireland (2004)

File Size: (947kB)

National Guidelines On The Management Of Outbreaks Of Norovirus Infection In Healthcare Settings (2003) *** UNDER REVIEW - DECEMBER 2023***

File Size: (308kB)
Publication Date: 2003
This Guidance document was originally published in 2003. It has been fully reviewed (December 2023) and is fit for purpose, when used in conjunction with the NCEC’s Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) National Clinical Guideline No. 30 - Volume 1. 

Prevention and Control Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) National Clinical Guideline No. 2 December 2013

File Size: (921kB)
Publication Date: December 2013

Prevention and Control Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) National Clinical Guideline Summary December 2013

File Size: (333kB)
Publication Date: December 2013

National Guidelines for the Prevention of Nosocomial Aspergillosis

File Size: (628kB)
Publication Date: January 2018

Appendix D: Sample template of a hospital policy document on infection prevention and control recommendations for the prevention of nosocomial invasive aspergillosis during hospital construction or renovation

File Size: (235kB)
Publication Date: January 2018

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