OneTogether

OneTogether Expert Conference 2013

At the inaugural SSI prevention expert conference in November 2013 we brought together operating theatre staff and infection prevention specialists to discuss current practice and the barriers to good infection prevention. The event was held at the 3M facilities in Bracknell and nearly 100 practitioners from the four organisations attended the session.

Workshops were held to ascertain current practice; challenges with compliance and overcoming challenges. The results of this feedback have been used to develop an audit tool supporting the five main infection risks along the surgical site pathway:

Skin preparation
Instrument management
Temperature management
Surgical environment
Prophylactic antibiotics
Wound management
Surveillance of SSI

Using a workshop approach we asked the groups to look at each of the domains of infection prevention shown above and asked the participants to review:

The availability of evidence and policy
Ownership of practice
Barriers to implementation of best practice
Small and large actions that could support excellent and consistent care

This issue of JIP includes the paper that emerged from this first event, which discusses the findings and the collaborative approach of the OneTogether Project (Wilson et al 2015). The outcome of this first workshop has provided the collaboration with a 'marker in the sand' to develop a tool which would support practitioners at the work face.

Posted on: 28 November 2013

OneTogether Expert Conference 2014

The OneTogether Conference 2014 was held in the impressive 3M Centre in Bracknell. Approximately 100 theatre personnel and infection prevention specialists attended the day to discover the latest developments in reducing the risk of Surgical Site Infections.

The event was opened by Gary Stapleton, 3M's Healthcare Director for Western Europe who set the scene for the conference. Dawn Stott, CEO for Association of Perioperative Practice and Kathryn Topley 3M Clinical Efficiency Manager shared the latest research from OneTogether. Whilst Peter Hoffmann, Consultant Clinical Scientist at Public Helath England discussed the importance of maintaining the quality of surgical air. Later, renown psychologist Dr Rob Archer talked about resilience and performing under pressure within the NHS.

In the afternoon delegates joined workshops to help facilitate the production of a toolkit that would support the implementation of existing infection prevention guidance. A draft toolkit was provided and guidance around the self-assessment concept was provided in packs and on posters. We asked the groups to self-assess policy and adherence to policy and calculate this as an overall compliance score in order to share the evidence at an interactive voting session.

As a result of the findings from this conference the collaboration has moved forward with the self-assessment tool; making changes to the format, updating the structure of the table to ensure relevant comments can be added against each audit point and have developed a 'traffic light' approach to results.

The resulting toolkit has been piloted throughout a number of hospitals within the UK and will be launched Nationwide at OneTogether's next conference in April 2016.

Posted on: 06 November 2014

Launch of OneTogether's Assessment Toolkit

OneTogether is a movement that brings together a number of leading professional organisations with an interest in preventing surgical site infection. The OneTogether partners include the Royal College of Nursing, Association for Perioperative Practice, Infection Prevention Society and College of Operating Department Practitioners.

Sophie Singh, 3M Senior Marketing Executive explained "Evidence shows that approximately 5% of surgical patients will experience an infection as a result of surgery. This can have devastating consequences, ranging from a longer hospital stay and increased NHS costs to patients needlessly dying. OneTogether aims to reduce the risk of surgical site infection by raising awareness amongst theatre staff and providing easy-to-follow tools which promote best practice."

This year's conference marked the national launch of the OneTogether Assessment Toolkit. The tool has been developed to assess current infection prevention practice against the latest guidance and scientific research. The conference was chaired by Mona Guckian-Fisher, President of Infection Prevention Society, with the launch of the Assessment Toolkit headed by 3M IPD's Clinical Efficency Manager, Kat Topley. Other keynote speakers included Dr Neil Wigglesworth, Vice-President of Infection Prevention Society, Dr Evonne Curran, Dr Mike Cooper and Dr Jennie Wilson.

Sophie added "The response to the launch of the OneTogether Assessment Toolkit has been phenomenal. We knew that OneTogether was of high value, but the actual response we have achieved has surpassed all expectations."

A total of 126 evaluation forms were returned on the day with:

100 percent of delegates rating the event as excellent or good
100 percent recommending the conference to their colleagues
100 percent would attending future event
100 percent planning to utilise the Assessment Toolkit in their own theatres

Since the conference the positive reception to the Assessment Toolkit has continued. "A hospital from Japan has even enquired about the OneTogether approach. It's fantastic to see our efforts reach half way across the World".

To access the OneTogether toolkit, download using the links below:

OneTogether Assessment – Electronic Tool

OneTogether Assessment - Booklet

Posted on: 02 March 2016

Electronic Version of OneTogether's Assessment Toolkit

April 2016 saw the launch of the OneTogether Assessment Toolkit which is designed to assess infection prevention compliance across the surgical pathway. By assessing compliance, the toolkit is designed to:

Identify areas for improvement across the surgical pathway
Provide a baseline to develop a quality improvement programme
Improve knowledge of best practice
Standardise clear systems of work
And, improve communication across the care pathway

To facilitate the automatic calculation of compliance scores, OneTogether has developed an electronic version of the Assessment Toolkit. Sophie Singh from 3M remarked "when developing the electronic toolkit we wanted to create something which was simple and easy for people to use. We knew some people found calculating compliance scores a little confusing at first. With this new tool all calculations are automatically completed, which helps make the assessment simple, easy and faster to complete"

If you would like to download the electronic OneTogether Assessment Toolkit, please visit our resource pages.

https://www.onetogether.org.uk/resources/

Posted on: 15 August 2016

Introducing OneTogether's Assessment Toolkit Training Video

To support the use of OneTogether's Assessment Toolkit, the OneTogether partners have created a training video which provides an overview of the tool's benefits, guidance on how to complete an assessment and practical hints and tips. The Assessment Toolkit is available as a PDF or in an electronic form. If you would like to download the OneTogether Assessment Toolkit, please visit our resource pages.

Posted on: 21 November 2016

Save the Date – OneTogether Expert Conference 2017

We are pleased to announce that the OneTogether Expert Conference 2017 will take place on the 23 November in Birmingham.

Following the successful launch of the OneTogether Assessment Toolkit, we will be launching OneTogether Improvement Guides, based on our seven areas of surgical care. These guides have been designed to help surgical teams develop their local improvement programmes and are based on the latest scientific evidence and national policies.

We will also host a number of keynote speakers and there will be a chance to network with colleagues from across the UK and Ireland. Places are limited to 300 delegates.

Save the date now - and keep a look out for more information.

Posted on: 18 January 2017

Announcing the OneTogether Awards 2017

It is a pleasure to announce that we will be hosting the first ever OneTogether Awards at our Expert Conference in November 2017. These awards have been developed to recognise, celebrate and promote best practice in "improving care to reduce the risk of surgical site infections".

The awards are a great way of showcasing your work on a national scale and winning programmes will be promoted through the work of OneTogether.

The deadline for award entries is 30 June 2017, with the shortlist announced in September 2017.

https://www.onetogether.org.uk/awards/

Posted on: 01 March 2017

OneTogether Awards 2017

Entry is now open and you can nominate your hospital or team here >>>

https://www.onetogether.org.uk/awards/

Posted on: 03 April 2017

Entry into the OneTogether Impact Awards have now closed

Entry for the 2017 OneTogether Impact Awards has now closed.

Well done to all of our applicants, the standard of entries has been very high. Shortlisted applicants will be notified by 13 October, and will be invited to attend the OneTogether Expert Conference, where the winners will be announced.

We will also be sharing the winning entries to showcase best practice amongst our community.

If you missed the chance to submit your entry for the 2017 Awards, then we will be bringing them back in 2018... so keep a look out for more information.

Posted on: 05 October 2017