The purpose of this manual is to support services to apply standard and transmission based precautions in practice. Implementation will be agreed at local level, in line with service developments and quality improvement practices.

Staff from all HSE Community Health & Social Care services may use this manual as a guide to best practice in relation to IPC. Non-HSE services may also use this document as relevant to their care setting, taking into consideration the different IPC risks posed by individual, particular settings. Dental/Orthodontic services are outside the scope of this manual, but may refer to sections of it as appropriate. Dental/orthodontic services should follow the HSE (2020) National Guideline for Infection Prevention and Control in HSE Dental and Orthodontic Services and subsequent updates.

Section 1: Background, scope & implementation plan
Section 2: Understanding how infections spread
Section 3: Standard precautions
Section 4: Transmission based precautions
Section 5: Multi-drug resistant organisms & antimicrobial stewardship