R49 Response Accepted

National ICM role guidance

Recommendation

Scottish Government should re-issue national guidance on the role of the ICM, stipulating that the ICM must be responsible for the management of the infection prevention and control service.

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 indicated that work was underway since 2014/15 to ensure ICMs have direct management responsibility for the IPC service. National guidance on the ICM role was to be re-issued to reflect this requirement.
- The HAI Standards and the HCAI Strategy 2023-2025 reinforce the ICM's management responsibilities, with Healthcare Improvement Scotland monitoring compliance (Scottish HCAI Strategy 2023-2025 (https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-healthcare-associated-infection-hcai-strategy-2023-2025/)).
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)
Jurisdiction
Scotland
Response
Accepted
Accepted Scottish Government
18 Jun 2015

Section 2.2 of the Scottish Government's response indicates that the government has been working with partners since 2014/15 to ensure the stipulation that infection control managers have direct lines of communication and accountability to the board is reinforced. The response then details the Infection Control Manager's (ICM) role, including overall responsibility for coordinating prevention and control of infection and delivering the board-approved infection prevention and control programme, thereby confirming their management responsibility for the service.

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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 Jan 2022
Scottish Government / ARHAI Scotland Other

Infection Prevention Workforce Strategic Plan 2022-2024 addresses ICM role nationally. HIS IPC Standards (2022) Standard 1 provides framework for ICM responsibilities. New IPC Specialist Career Framework being developed.

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National guidance reissued through multiple channels including the Workforce Strategic Plan and IPC Standards. ARHAI Scotland provides national coordination.

Infection Prevention Workforce Strategic Plan 202… View Source
Reasonable Progress
01 Mar 2015
Scottish Government Other

Scottish Government committed to re-issuing national guidance on the role of the Infection Control Manager, as part of broader IPC governance reforms following the Inquiry.

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Implementation Group tasked with ensuring guidance is updated and circulated to all NHS boards.

Chapter 2: Oversight and leadership, Scottish Gov… View Source
Source
Inquiry Vale of Leven Inquiry
Report The Vale of Leven Hospital Inquiry Report 24 Nov 2014
View Source
Responsible Bodies
Scottish Government Primary
Themes & Tags
Weak Government Accountability & Scrutiny Quality and safety oversight Infection Control Guidance
Recommendation age 11.5 yrs
Last formal update 4000 days ago