A local response to implementing Saving Lives in a large acute Trust.

Healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs) are a high priority for health professionals. Under the Health and Social Care Act (2008), NHS organizations that fail to comply with the duties in the act could, in extreme cases, be liable for prosecution. Saving Lives (2007) is a national strategy to prevent and control HCAIs which incorporates seven high-impact interventions or care bundles. These relate to clinical procedures that must be performed correctly and in the same order for each patient, every time, to reduce the risk of a patient contracting an HCAI. Within a large Trust in the north east of England, five practice improvement facilitators were employed to assist with the implementation of the Department of Health's Saving Lives programme. A steering group consisting of senior multidisciplinary team members was set up. One of the aims of the group was to reduce variations in practice and to standardize documentation and clinical practice. This article describes how phase I of the programme was implemented across the Trust and discusses the standardized documentation developed.