Delivery of safe, high-quality care in infection prevention and control (IPC) depends on strong multidisciplinary collaboration. IPC teams in the NHS bring together medical infection specialists (clinical microbiologists and infectious disease physicians), IPC nurses, pharmacists, epidemiologists, engineers, laboratory, clinical and behavioural scientists. Their combined expertise underpins effective prevention, outbreak management, and patient safety across both hospital and community settings. As care delivery shifts beyond acute environments, IPC models must adapt to support integrated care systems, virtual wards, and community-based services. However, the move toward a more decentralised system must not erode this collaborative foundation. Fragmentation risks disconnection between clinical, diagnostic, and public health functions, undermining both patient outcomes and staff wellbeing.

The Healthcare Infection Society (HIS) supports locally driven innovation but stresses that sustained national coordination and medical leadership within IPC are essential. Recent digital and genomic tools have improved surveillance and outbreak detection, but success depends on equipping IPC specialists with the appropriate training and tools within their multidisciplinary teams. The inclusion of epidemiologists, bioinformaticians and behavioural science experts in IPC teams should also become standard practice to maximise adherence and patient engagement, particularly in community settings where behavioural and environmental factors play a critical role.

One example of a digital initiative that has improved patient care is the deployment of specific IPC surveillance systems integrated with electronic patient records that has been used at Frimley Health NHS foundation Trust across both inpatients and patients in the community, that will allow real-time tracking and analysis and of infections, including antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and its risk factors (such as central lines, urine catheters, travel). Another example is automated (or semi-automated) surveillance systems for central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI). These systems integrate microbiology results, electronic patient records, and intravascular device data to identify potential CLABSI cases in real time, reducing reliance on manual reporting and enabling faster intervention. IPC teams use these tools to monitor trends, trigger alerts, and coordinate responses across clinical and diagnostic services. Similar approaches are now being explored in community IPC, where digital surveillance platforms can support early detection of outbreaks in care homes, domiciliary care, and ambulatory settings, helping to protect vulnerable populations and reduce avoidable hospital admissions.

Productivity gains in infection services arise when IPC is fully integrated across patient pathways and supported by digital innovation. HIS members have implemented genomic sequencing for outbreak tracking, digital dashboards for hospital surveillance, and rapid diagnostics that reduce unnecessary isolation bed usage and shorten length of stay. For example, real-time genomic sequencing has enabled IPC teams to identify transmission clusters of multidrug-resistant organisms, allowing targeted interventions that prevent ward closures and reduce disruption to clinical services. Similarly, digital dashboards that consolidate microbiology results, bed occupancy data, and patient movement logs have streamlined IPC decision-making, reducing time spent on manual data collation and improving response times during outbreaks.

Combining genomic and conventional laboratory techniques with digital surveillance systems has helped monitor AMR and manage infection outbreaks. These approaches can reduce the high costs of treatment for patients and the reduction in outbreak management costs for the NHS. In addition, improving hospital design to reduce transmission of AMR, by reducing clutter, better design of dirty utility spaces easier access of hand sensitisation to staff not only improves hand hygiene efficacy and compliance but also saves costs from healthcare associated infections and staff time, enhancing productivity and staff morale as has been demonstrated at Wexham Park Hospital’s initiative In combatting AMR.

Rapid diagnostic platforms, such as point-of-care multiplex PCR testing for respiratory viruses, have also contributed to productivity by enabling faster triage, reducing delays and minimising inappropriate antimicrobial use. These technologies not only improve efficiency but also enhance safety, ensuring that IPC interventions are timely, evidence-based, and proportionate.

To sustain these gains, investment in IPC training and accreditation is essential. HIS, could collaborate with the British Infection Association (BIA), Infection Prevention Society (IPS), Royal College of Pathologists (RCPath), and UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), is to develop a structured national IPC training pathway aligned with NHS England’s educational framework. This pathway would establish consistent standards and competencies across professions, including medical IPC specialists, IPC nurses, and allied health professionals. It would also incorporate emerging skills in digital surveillance, behavioural science, and outbreak analytics, equipping the workforce to manage respiratory viruses, AMR, and the operational challenges of ageing hospital estates.

HIS currently offers online IPC training resources/courses open to all IPC professionals through its IPC Education Programme. These modules are aligned with NHS England’s educational framework and provides a flexible, accessible route to structured IPC learning without the commitment of enrolling in a full university course. Expanding and embedding such programmes within the national training infrastructure would support workforce consistency, strengthen professional capability, and accelerate the development of a highly skilled, digitally enabled IPC workforce.

Embedding these programmes nationally will strengthen workforce capability, support retention, and enable the NHS to deliver on its long-term productivity and prevention goals. It will also ensure that IPC professionals are recognised not only as safety leaders but as strategic contributors to system efficiency and transformation.

A strong, values-driven culture in infection services fosters safety, accountability, and professional pride. Medical leadership within IPC, alongside empowered multidisciplinary teamwork, remains central to sustaining this culture. HIS supports policies that promote joint decision-making, continuous learning, and clear professional recognition of IPC as a distinct specialism or sub-specialty.

The COVID 19 pandemic placed unprecedented pressure on already small IPC teams, who were required to deliver rapidly evolving national directives while balancing organisational needs, reconciling conflicting messages from professional bodies, and addressing local clinical anxiety. In many instances, IPC professionals became the focal point for staff frustration and public dissatisfaction, despite operating under extreme conditions. The cumulative impact has been significant, leading to burnout, early departures from the speciality, and persistent challenges in recruitment and retention. 

The pressure coincides with a demographic shift in the workforce: a generation of highly experienced IPC medical and nursing leaders are now approaching retirement, while changes in training curricula mean that newer colleagues often enter the field with less direct IPC experience and narrower exposure to infection prevention practice. Coupled with an image problem for IPC as a post-pandemic career (perceived as high stakes but undervalued, with limited training recognition) this has created a real risk to the future capability and resilience of IPC services.

Recognising IPC as a distinct accredited speciality with a defined career pathway and structure training programme would help address these challenges. Such recognition would restore the professional status and attractiveness of IPC roles, ensure consistent standards of leadership and competence, and strengthen preparedness for inevitable future pandemics. Notably, many European countries are now moving towards formal recognition of IPC as a medical speciality with defined training pathways leading to accreditation, reinforcing the need for UK to keep pace and remain internationally aligned.

Investing in staff wellbeing and professional development is essential to retention and morale, particularly in services under sustained operational pressure. For example, some NHS trusts or local Integrated Care Boards have introduced IPC-specific mentorship programmes and peer support networks, which have helped reduce burnout and improve job satisfaction among IPC nurses. HIS continues to advocate for a national accreditation or credentialing scheme for IPC professionals, reinforcing professional identity, attracting new entrants, and securing the pipeline of future leaders. This scheme should be inclusive of diverse career pathways, including medical, nursing, scientific, and technical, and fully aligned with NHS England’s broader workforce development strategy.

An example is the formation of BEIPI, the built environment infection prevention initiative, by HIS, which brings together professionals across IPC, NHS capital and estates, procurement, manufacturing and the healthcare design and construction industry with an aim to  reduce the burden of antimicrobial-resistant (AMR) healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs) by embedding infection prevention principles into the planning, design, construction and operation of healthcare buildings. This marks a significant culture shift of professionals working in silos to collaborative work across many professional fields and highlights the need for leadership skills in IPC professionals to drive change at national and global levels.

The pandemic not only disrupted many services but also created new opportunities for improvement and innovation, from digital surveillance systems and genomic technologies to sustainable design and smarter diagnostics. Embedding these lessons into IPC training and development frameworks will benefit all specialties.

As the 10 Year Health Plan runs parallel to the New Hospital Programme (NHP) framework, greater synergy between HIS and the IPC specialist workforce could better inform the design and development of future hospitals, improving system efficiency and overall healthcare outcomes.