Infection Prevention & Control

Everyday care tasks can transfer infection through hands, equipment, body fluids and the surrounding environment. This course helps adult social care staff recognise those risks and apply the precautions appropriate to their role and setting. Eight Modules cover standard precautions, hand and respiratory hygiene, PPE, cleaning and laundry, waste and sharps, suspected infection and home-care scenarios. The core context is England. Use the learning alongside employer procedures, individual care plans and current infection advice; practical training and assessed competence remain separate.

👥 Who This Is For

Adult social care workers in people’s homes, care homes and supported living.

💻 What You Need

No formal qualification is required. You need a device and internet access, sufficient English to engage with the learning, and access to employer procedures and relevant support. Obtain task-specific practical training before undertaking unfamiliar cleaning, sharps or clinical activities.

⏱ Learning at Your Pace

Allow approximately 2 hours 16 minutes overall, including videos, guided reading, scenario reflection and the final assessment. Study at your own pace; individual completion times vary.

🧼 Infection Prevention Highlights

The eight modules connect how infection spreads with risk assessment and standard precautions. The learning follows hand and respiratory hygiene, PPE, cleaning and laundry, then waste, sharps, exposure concerns and seeking advice in care settings.

✓ Relate everyday care activities to infection risks.
✓ Explore hygiene and PPE within the relevant task and setting.
✓ Connect equipment, laundry and waste arrangements with local procedures.
✓ Review when infection or exposure concerns need advice and escalation.

📘 Module 1 — How Infection Spreads in Care

Infection can spread when a microorganism moves from a source through a route of transmission to a susceptible person. Hands, contaminated equipment, respiratory particles, blood or other body fluids can contribute, depending on the infection and task.

By the end of this Module, learners will be able to:

✓ Describe relevant routes of transmission.

Workplace application: A worker moves between residents after touching used equipment without cleaning their hands. Worked response: Perform hand hygiene and follow the cleaning and equipment precautions before supporting another person.

📘 Module 2 — Risk Assessment and Standard Precautions

Standard precautions apply to everyday care, whether or not an infection has been identified. Before a task, consider contact with body fluids, skin, equipment, the environment and the person’s needs.

By the end of this Module, learners will be able to:

✓ Identify everyday risks and standard precautions.

Workplace application: A worker is asked to clean a body-fluid spill but has not received training for the task. Worked response: Make the area safe within their role and obtain trained support and the required supplies.

📘 Module 3 — Hand Hygiene and Respiratory Hygiene

Clean hands at the relevant points before and after care tasks and after removing gloves. Follow the source-supported washing method, covering all hand surfaces with soap and running water for at least 20 seconds.

By the end of this Module, learners will be able to:

✓ Apply source-supported hand and respiratory hygiene principles.

Workplace application: After removing gloves used during personal care, a worker prepares to support the next person. Worked response: Clean their hands before the next task; changing gloves alone is insufficient.

📘 Module 4 — Personal Protective Equipment

Choose PPE for the care task, expected exposure and applicable infection advice. Gloves are indicated for relevant exposure to blood or body fluids and are changed between tasks; wearing them continuously can spread contamination.

By the end of this Module, learners will be able to:

✓ Explain selection and safe use within training and policy.

Workplace application: A worker plans to keep the same gloves on for personal care and then handle clean equipment. Worked response: Remove and dispose of the used gloves, clean hands and use task-appropriate precautions for the next activity.

📘 Module 5 — Cleaning, Equipment and Laundry

Clean reusable equipment between users in line with manufacturer instructions and the provider’s procedure. The required process depends on the item and contamination risk; a worker should not invent chemical concentrations or mix cleaning products.

By the end of this Module, learners will be able to:

✓ Identify safe cleaning and equipment arrangements.

Workplace application: A reusable commode is needed for another person before the agreed cleaning process has been completed. Worked response: Complete the authorised decontamination process before reuse or obtain a clean alternative.

📘 Module 6 — Waste, Sharps and Exposure Concerns

Separate waste at the point of use according to the provider’s arrangements and relevant waste guidance. Use the appropriate container; a waste bag itself is not a foot-operated bin.

By the end of this Module, learners will be able to:

✓ Recognise exposure concerns and follow reporting procedures.

Workplace application: A worker discovers a discarded needle while cleaning a room. Worked response: Keep others away and obtain the trained response and correct disposal arrangements without handling it unsafely.

📘 Module 7 — Recognising Infection and Seeking Advice

Notice and report changes such as vomiting, diarrhoea, cough, fever, breathlessness or an unusual deterioration. Some people show less typical changes, but confusion or a fall alone does not prove an infection or an outbreak.

By the end of this Module, learners will be able to:

✓ Escalate suspected infection using local pathways.

Workplace application: Two residents develop vomiting and diarrhoea close together and may be epidemiologically linked. Worked response: Report the suspected linked infection cases promptly so the provider can seek appropriate clinical and public-health advice.

📘 Module 8 — Applying IPC in Care Settings

Apply IPC to the actual setting. Home-care workers bring supplies and keep clean and used items separate, while respecting that the dwelling is the person’s home.

By the end of this Module, learners will be able to:

✓ Apply guidance to home-care and care-home scenarios.

Workplace application: A home-care visit reveals that the required PPE supplies are unavailable. Worked response: Contact the provider for suitable supplies and safe arrangements rather than improvising protection.

📝 Final Assessment

Complete 15 single-answer multiple-choice questions after the teaching and associated activities. Select one correct answer from four options for each question. The pass mark is 80% (12 out of 15).