Unlike healthy people, patients in hospital are more endangered by infections. It is our task to prevent the spread of infection in the hospital as far as humanly possible. As a high-performance hospital we are active in infection prevention and control. Measures include isolating patients with particular infections in single-bed rooms and allowing visits to them only by staff and relatives wearing gowns, oral protection and gloves. Precautions depend on the kind of bacterium and the ward involved.
Of course we explain the necessary measures in detail to the patient and our doctors will be pleased to answer your questions. 

Infection Prevention: Structure

The team for infection prevention and control works with all departments of the German Heart Center Berlin. Prof. Petra Gastmeier (Charité), an expert in infection prevention, is available to advise the team. Each department has doctors who are responsible for monitoring and enforcing infection prevention rules and measures in the medical area. Since 2008 we have also had so-called LINK nurses who – in cooperation with the infection control team – develop and realize infection prevention standards that concern the nursing personnel.
The infection prevention team works closely with the Robert Koch Institute, the Berlin Regional Office for Social Affairs and the Regional Office for Occupational and Technical Safety.

Tasks of infection prevention and control

The tasks of the infection prevention team include:

• preparing hygiene and disinfection plans and standards
• managing patients with multiresistant pathogens
• monitoring disinfection and sterilization procedures
• inspecting and observing infection prevention processes
• consultation, e.g. concerning building projects, environmental medicine questions and the acquisition of medical products and materials
• holding continuing education sessions on infection prevention

Projects and Events

• registration with KISS (Hospital Infection Surveillance System), part of the National Reference Center, since 2002
• start of the working group “LINK Nurses”, 2008
• patient screening for MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus), since 2008
• participation in the “Clean Hands” campaign, since 2015
• participation in the point prevalence survey of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), 2016

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