Clinical governance and quality improvement systems are in place to prevent and control infections, and support antimicrobial stewardship and sustainable use of infection prevention and control resources

Antimicrobial stewardship is the ongoing effort by a health service organisation to optimise antimicrobial use to improve patient outcomes, ensure cost-effective therapy and reduce adverse impact of antimicrobial use, including antimicrobial resistance.¹

This criterion requires organisation-wide governance, leadership and commitment to prevent and control infections, and support antimicrobial stewardship.

To meet this criterion, health service organisations are required to:

• Apply safety and quality systems to prevent and control infections, and support antimicrobial stewardship
• Use quality improvement systems to monitor, review and improve the systems to prevent and control infections, and to support antimicrobial stewardship
• Apply principles of partnering with consumers when designing and implementing systems to prevent and control infections and support antimicrobial stewardship.

This criterion aligns with the Clinical Governance Standard and the Partnering with Consumers Standard.

Infection risk varies in each health service organisation, so there is no single risk management approach. However, the basic principles of risk management apply across all settings, and infection prevention and control systems should be used in conjunction with the hierarchy of controls to prevent and control infections in health service organisations.

The principles of clinical governance apply regardless of the setting, but the management structure associated with infection control will differ with the size of the organisation, its context and the complexity of services delivered.

The governance framework and risk management principles for preventing and controlling infections are outlined in the Australian Guidelines for the Prevention and Control of Infection in Healthcare.

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