Senior IPC Officer

Purpose of the Role

Under the direct supervision of the Clinical Supervisor, the Senior IPC Officer will be responsible for all Environmental health/IPC activities of the Health Facility. These include Program design, infrastructure design and construction, developing guidelines and SOPs, Staff training on IPC and coordination. He/ She will work closely with the Clinical Supervisor, Lab Supervisor and Program Support Team to ensure that the health facility and services provided meet slandered IPC protocols. The Environmental Health Technical Advisor for the region will be available to provide any technical guidance and support remotely when needed.

The ideal candidate will have an environmental health background and experience in Implementing water and sanitation for health facilities such as cholera treatment centers and disease-specific treatment units. “Highly desired criteria” include previous work in Triages and isolation facilities, highly contagious area or Level 4 biosafety area and knowledge of infection control and prevention.

Highlights of Key Responsibilities

• Ensures the effective implementation of the Infection, Prevention, and Control (IPC) guidelines through its advocacy and strict adherence, including the appropriate use of PPE as and when required.
• Work with health facility managers to set up and mentor the IPC committees and IPC focal persons for each of the health facilities IRC is supporting and ensuring their weekly and monthly activities. Ensuring at least one meeting of IPC committee every month.
• Work with IRC engineers to ensure that the environmental controls are in proper place to support IPC so that it meets the required IPC standards. Also, need to have good communication with WaSH focal points and engineers to meet the sphere standard which is crucial for maintaining IPC standards.
• Perform any other roles and responsibilities assigned by the supervisory hierarchy in relation to health service delivery.
• Assess the current situation of IPC against international and national updated standards and identify the challenges and gaps to provide quality health care services through the strengthening of IPC by the health team.
• Disseminate information and updates on the information on IPC, both from national and international guidelines.
• Implement IPC related activities with the support of Senior Health Manager, Clinical Health Managers, and IPC Focal. This includes developing an operational plan for the health team, to ensure the quality implementation, and to create and maintain a regular monitoring plan. The activity also includes direct supervision of the activity during the implementation and monitoring.
• To make sure standard precautions (hand hygiene, personal protective equipment (PPE), respiratory hygiene, reuse of medical devices, sharps safety, prevention/management of sharps injuries, waste management, laundry, environmental cleaning disinfection, and sterilization, isolation precautions like Contact, Droplet, Airborne Precautions) are in place. Ensuring IEC materials regarding IPC and its promotional activities are all in the right place and visible to everyone.
• Assess and maintain the adequate IPC materials including PPE supply and develop and operate a plan on how to maintain them in the facilities and warehouse without any gap along with routine monitoring and reporting on the consumption of IPC materials including PPE. Based on the consumption, plan for procurement in line with the allocated budget.
• Follow and supervise the daily activities of the IPC with clear guidance and orientation, guiding both clinical and non-clinical teams on procedures and protocols for safe handling of patients, visitors, and waste. Also, ensure the overall cleanliness of the facility including all the departments and within the boundary. Ensure that proper cleaning and disinfection protocols are followed throughout the facility.
• Oversee the implementation of safe injection practices to prevent the transmission of infections through injections. This involves training healthcare workers on proper needle and syringe handling, as well as the safe disposal of sharps.
• Provide training to frontline health workers at health facilities as well as community level on infection, prevention, and control (IPC). Work closely with the IPC focal to identify and develop refresher training for clinical and non-clinical staff to ensure continued awareness of the IP guidelines adopted by the health sector and other relevant organizations (WHO, SPHERE Guidelines).
• Develop plans for managing outbreaks of infections within healthcare facilities. This includes coordinating response efforts, isolating affected patients, implementing additional infection control measures, and collaborating with public health authorities if needed. Also, develop plans for responding to public health emergencies, such as pandemics or outbreaks of emerging infectious diseases. Coordinate with relevant agencies and authorities to ensure a coordinated response.
• Establish a functional water treatment and water quality monitoring system in every IRC supported health facility. Ensuring standard waste management protocol systems within the facilities.
• Proactive at ensuring all duties on shift are completed by the team and ongoing activities are relayed to the incoming shifts at targeted health facilities. Ensuring the accountability of the desired staffs related to IPC to perform their duties properly and efficiently, if required guide them with the best capacity that required.
• Review IPC data on regular basis in collaboration with Senior Health Coordinator, Health Coordinator, Senior Health Manager, Clinical Health Managers, and IPC focal’s and ensure compliance with standards using improvement methods. Support health facilities in developing infection, prevention, and control (IPC) annual plan by helping the management.
• Support the health facilities ensure that triage, screening, and isolation procedures at the health facilities are followed at the best standard. When required, undertakes hands-on skills transfer, disinfection and other tasks of the waste managers, sprayers, chlorinator, and training of healthcare workers.
• Support development of tools on IPC for patients, families and communities and conduct training and orientation on how to implement and use these tools.
• To oversee the implementation of IPC programs and promoting occupational safety in the treatment center to minimize the risk of infections for patients and employees. Conduct regular monitoring of IPC progress for each of the health facilities and take quick action in case the protocols are not followed. Ensuring activities of IPC committee is on track.
• Collaboration and communication with updating the sectoral protocols and changes with the IRC' steam and implementation according to the sectoral instruction.
• Maintaining the IRC standard and reporting according to policy of IRC to relevant fields.
• Maintaining and tracking the EH related stocks and filling the gap by procurement of necessary commodities.
• Need-based community engagement and educating the volunteers in IPC and IPC measures.
• Supporting in emergency situation with the MMT team when required.
• Willingness to work in adverse environment and in emergency responses.