What is ICCQIP?
The Infections in Critical Care Quality Improvement Programme (ICCQIP) is a national surveillance programme, focused on reducing infections in critical care units (CCU). To date, the programme has focused on the surveillance of bloodstream infections (BSI) in CCUs across England; future efforts will aim to look at other healthcare associated infections (HCAI) in critical care. The initiative brings together professional organisations from adult, paediatric, and neonatal intensive care, microbiology, and infection control, supported by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA).
The need for ICCQIP arose from earlier initiatives like the Matching Michigan project, which aimed to reduce central venous catheter-related BSI in adult and paediatric ICUs. Although that project achieved significant reductions, it also underscored the necessity for systematic and ongoing infection data collection and reporting. Therefore, ICCQIP was established in 2012 and surveillance has been ongoing since 2016.
Why is ICCQIP important?
Patients in CCUs are particularly vulnerable to HCAI due to severe illness, multiple comorbidities, invasive procedures, and high antibiotic exposure. The 2011 national point prevalence study, demonstrated an HCAI prevalence of 23.4% in CCUs, compared to 6.4% across all hospital wards, highlighting the need for ongoing surveillance and targeted interventions in the critical care setting.
How ICCQIP works
Participating units submit data for all positive blood cultures, including patient information, symptoms, blood culture results, treatment, and infection sources. Additional data on unit activity, such as the number of occupied beds and use of central venous catheters is also captured. Data are entered or uploaded locally using a web-based UKHSA platform. UKHSA produce quarterly reports at national and individual unit level, to enable individual units to benchmark key infection indicators and understand. the local and national incidence of BSI.
Why should you be part of ICCQIP?
By participating in ICCQIP, Trusts and CCUs can:
- Access valuable data to inform local infection prevention strategies.
- Benchmark their performance against national averages.
- Contribute to a broader effort to reduce HCAIs and improve patient outcomes.
- Receive support and guidance from a national network of experts.
By coming together through ICCQIP, we can collectively reduce the burden of infections in the most vulnerable patients and ensure we improve and sustain standards of care in critical care units across England.
How can you get involved in ICCQIP?
All CCUs in England are eligible to participate. Trusts interested in participating can find further details and submit an expression of interest to join ICCQIP by emailing ICCQIP.surveillance@ukhsa.gov.uk.
What is the role of professional organisations?
Professional organisations participate in the ICCQIP Oversight Group through their representatives, who provide clinical oversight and leadership in a coordinated way to UKHSA and colleagues in the NHS. Their involvement helps guide the surveillance programme, contributes to setting benchmarks, and facilitates recruitment and engagement within NHS ICUs. Additionally, they help ensure buy-in from key stakeholders and identify gaps in research or surveillance.
Professional organisations participating in ICCQIP include, but are not limited to:
- British Infection Association (BIA)
- Healthcare Infection Society (HIS)
- Infection Prevention Society (IPS)
- Paediatric Infection Prevention Improvement Network (PIPIN)
- Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine (FoICM)
- Intensive Care National Audit and Research Centre (ICNARC)
- Intensive Care Society