Automated national HCAI surveillance - potential or pipedream?

Infection Control Matters

In this episode, Brett, Phil and Martin discuss a recent paper from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) that examined the timeliness of data points that could be used for a centrally implemented, automated HCAI surveillance system in England, as a potential alternative to the
24 current locally-implemented system. The aim was to examine the potential for a national, automated surveillance system that could reduce the burden of the existing labour-intensive process for mandatory surveillance in England although the results were felt to be generalisable.

Link to the paper we discuss:
Quan TP, Eyre DW, Shadwell S, West D, Hopkins S, Chudasama D, et al. Timeliness of a potential automated system for national surveillance of healthcare-associated infections in England. J Hosp Infect 2025. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhin.2025.04.008.