R48 Response Accepted

ICM Board HAI reporting

Recommendation

Health Boards should ensure that the ICM is responsible for reporting to the Board on the state of HAI in the organisation.

Published Evidence Summary
The following publicly available evidence relates to this recommendation:
- The Scottish Government published its response to the Vale of Leven Hospital Inquiry Report on 18 June 2015, accepting all 75 recommendations and establishing an Implementation Group chaired by the Chief Nursing Officer (Scottish Government Response, June 2015).
- The Scottish Government's response specified that the ICM is responsible for producing an annual report on the state of HAI, decontamination, and cleaning in the organisation, to be presented to the Board.
- The HAI Standards require regular board-level reporting on HAI metrics, with the ICM responsible for ensuring the board has current information on infection prevention and control performance.
Sources
How was this evidence gathered?
Evidence searched by Claude (Anthropic) on 10 Apr 2026
Checked data held on this site (government responses, progress updates, independent evidence)
This recommendation applies across many organisations. The evidence above reflects central policy activity; adoption in individual organisations may vary.
Jurisdiction
Scotland
Response
Accepted
Accepted Scottish Government
18 Jun 2015

Section 2.2 of the Scottish Government's response specifies that the Infection Control Manager (ICM) is responsible for producing an annual report on the state of HAI, decontamination, and cleaning in the NHS board and releasing it publicly. The ICM is also stated to be accountable directly to the chief executive and the board, confirming their responsibility for reporting on HAI to the board.

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Published Evidence

Published assessments of progress from inspectorates, select committees, official progress reports, and other sources. Source type badge indicates whether each assessment is independent or government self-reported.

Good Progress
01 May 2022
Healthcare Improvement Scotland Other

HIS IPC Standards (2022) Standard 1 addresses IPC reporting to boards. Standard 4 (Assurance and Monitoring) requires systematic monitoring and reporting of HAI data to Board level.

View detailed findings

National standards provide the framework. Board-level compliance is monitored through HIS inspections.

HIS IPC Standards - Standards 1 and 4, May 2022 View Source
Source
Inquiry Vale of Leven Inquiry
Report The Vale of Leven Hospital Inquiry Report 24 Nov 2014
View Source
Responsible Bodies
NHS Health Boards (Scotland) Primary
Themes & Tags
Weak Government Accountability & Scrutiny Quality and safety oversight Infection Control Governance
Recommendation age 11.5 yrs
Last formal update 4000 days ago