Effective infection prevention and control strategies in a large, accredited, psychiatric facility in Singapore

Old and new administration buildings allow administrative departments to be physically split between buildings. Because standard infection prevention practices may not invariably prevent the spread of infections,4,6-8 additional measures were implemented to respond to the pandemic. Pandemic-Specific Infection Prevention and Control Strategies, Stratified by Level Hospital Ward/Location Individual Restricted access into IMH, only 1 entrance 3 visitor screening centers have been set up Visitors must register and state the purpose of their visit and location of visit Temperature screening of all visitors plus travel history Restrictions on the number of visitors: only 1 visitor at a time per inpatient; only 1 accompanying person per outpatient Televisitation services for visitors Teleconsultation for medical consultations in nursing homes Home delivery of prescriptions Isolation ward for potential infectious cases (eg, respiratory symptoms) Enhanced pneumonia surveillance Modular system in the blocks; no cross-block movement; split-mode operations No interward mixing Unidirectional flow in the outpatient clinic Reduction of outpatient appointments to lengthen the gap between follow-up appointments where possible Negative pressure rooms (n=28) ECT service Segregation of inpatients and outpatients receiving service; service provision is conducted by blocks; enhanced terminal cleaning after each use X-ray services Provision of services by block Dental services Suspended service Patients Temperature surveillance of inpatients twice daily Patients hands are sanitized every 2 h in the wards Personal hygiene education for inpatients Patient vaccination program (flu and pneumococcal) Suspension of group activities Staff Staff wear surgical masks in the wards Personal portable hand sanitizer given to all staff, changed every 6 mo Staff temperature screening twice daily Travel and leave restrictions Staff vaccination program (flu, MMR, hepatitis) All nonessential training has been suspended Essential training, ie, maintenance of competency (eg, BCLS) continues Personal protective equipment training and audits Electronic tracking of staff movement to facilitate contact tracing Monitoring of staff temperature, travel, and medical certificates using a national-level staff surveillance system Visitors Suspension of all volunteer activities All visitors to wards must wear masks Note. To ensure that staff are available, nonessential vacation allowances have been suspended. B