The NeoIPC Surveillance System

Public health surveillance is “the ongoing, systematic collection, analysis, and interpretation of health-related data essential to planning, implementation, and evaluation of public health practice.” — Field Epidemiology

Within the framework of the NeoIPC project, we have developed a surveillance system to contribute to the prevention and control of hospital-acquired infections in neonatology.

As NeoIPC Surveillance Team, we want to support your efforts to prevent healthcare-associated infections in your neonatology department by:

  • Developing and optimising reference methods to enable local, regional, and global assessment

  • Providing free software and tools to conduct surveillance and to analyse data

  • Organising training and providing support to ensure accurate and efficient implementation of surveillance

  • Generating periodic reference reports for benchmarking

Do you have any questions about our surveillance activities? Email us!

neoipc-support@charite.de
NeoIPC Surveillance Toolkit

How to participate in the NeoIPC Surveillance: A Step-by-Step Guide

 
  1. Eligibility: Your neonatology department can participate in the NeoIPC Surveillance, completely free of charge, provided that it regularly provides care for very preterm (<32 weeks) and very low birthweight (<1500g) infants.
  2. Request sample cooperation agreement: Click here to request a sample template of the cooperation agreement between Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin and your institution. This is a fundamental document that lays out the details of the collaboration and ensures compliance of the surveillance activities with the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which applies in Germany, where Charité’s DHIS2 data management platform is hosted.
    Do you have any doubts or concerns on surveillance and data privacy compliance? Visit our FAQ page.
  3. Review and approve cooperation agreement: Once the template is reviewed and approved by your institution, appoint a project manager and name an authorised representative for signing. The authorised representative can also serve as the project manager.
  4. Sign the agreement: An editable version of the cooperation agreement will be created and sent to you for signature. Submit the signed agreement to neoipc-support@charite.de. Upon Charité’s signature, you will receive a copy of the agreement via email.
  5. Access the NeoIPC Surveillance Data Management Platform: Complete the NeoIPC Surveillance System User Access Request Form to gain access to the online platform. Individuals listed on this form will receive an invitation link via email to create an account on the platform. Please refer to the Abstractor’s Manual for DHIS2 Platform if you need further help.
  6. Congratulations! You are now ready to collect data and submit it to the NeoIPC Surveillance System.
  7. Begin data collection: Please adhere to the methods and instructions on data collection and submission provided in documents such as Surveillance Protocol, Infection Definitions, and Abstractors Manual for DHIS2 Platform. Visit the NeoIPC Surveillance toolkit webpage to view and download all available documents and materials.
  8. Attend online training: Ensure at least one representative from your institution attends the next available online training course to guarantee accurate data collection and submission. Completion of this training is necessary for inclusion in the reference data pool.
  9. Further inquiries: Do you have any further questions? Feel free to contact neoipc-support@charite.de.

Why have we developed this surveillance system?

In many hospitals in Europe and worldwide, physicians and nurses lack quality data to assess the burden of healthcare-associated infections and the the factors that contribute to them. They also struggle to measure the effectiveness of infection prevention measures.

Support for surveillance of healthcare-associated infections in newborns or reference data for benchmarking are only available in few countries.

Even when data collection systems exist at national or international levels, they often lack the specificity needed to fully evaluate the situation with respect to infection prevention and control.

Why does neonatology require a specific focus?

Worldwide, neonates and especially preterm babies are at a higher risk of experiencing healthcare-associated infections.

Neonatal patients, especially preterm infants, require specialised medical care due to their vulnerability and unique physiological and developmental needs.

Most healthcare-associated infections can be prevented by implementing infection prevention and control measures in the NICU. These should be tailored to the specific infection risks of infants.