2023 WHO Multi-level Global Survey on Minimum Requirements for Infection Prevention

and Control (IPC) at the National and Health Care Facility Levels

Instructions
What is this survey: A WHO multi-level global survey on the implementation of the minimum requirements
for IPC at both the national and health care facility levels using assessment tools accessible online via the
WHO IPC Portal.

What are the objectives of this survey:

1) To offer countries the opportunity to assess their current implementation status of the WHO
minimum requirements for IPC programmes at the national and facility level through the WHO IPC
Portal, and gather their results and guidance from WHO to make improvement plans.
2) To gather a baseline situational analysis of the implementation of the IPC minimum requirements at
the national and facility levels to enable tracking of some indicators included in the monitoring
framework of the global action plan 2024-2030 on IPC, and compare it with other available
assessments1, when appropriate.

Timeline: this survey will be open from 22 November 2023 to 14 February 2024

How the survey works: The survey is on two major levels, national and facility, and uses the following
structured, closed-formatted questionnaires:

National level survey

• Assessment tool of the minimum requirements for IPC programmes at the national level (IPCAT-MR),
covering a total of 25 indicators

This tool is primarily intended to be self-administered, but can also be used for joint assessments through
careful discussions with stakeholders, including the WHO HQ, regional or country offices.

Facility level survey

• Assessment tool on infection prevention and control minimum requirements for primary health care
facilities, covering a total of 26 indicators
• Assessment tool on infection prevention and control minimum requirements for secondary health
care facilities, covering a total of 37 indicators
• Assessment tool on infection prevention and control minimum requirements for tertiary health care
facilities, covering a total of 45 indicators
Participants should only choose and complete the tool appropriate for their facility level (primary, secondary
or tertiary health care facility).

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For example assessment of key indicators used in the WHO global survey on national IPC programmes (2018 and
2021) and/or in the IPCAT-2 tool. As well assessment of key indicators used in the WHO global survey on IPC
programmes in health care facilities in 2019 (IPCAF tool).

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All tools are structured according to the recommendations of the WHO minimum requirements for IPC
programmes. They are divided into six (national level) and eight (facility level) sections reflecting the WHO
IPC core components (https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241549929) and minimum
requirements at the respective level (https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241516945). Users
should become familiar with these documents before completing the tools.

For this survey, all tools are available in English, French, Spanish and Russian. The IPCAT-MR is also available
in Arabic and Chinese. The WHO Global IPC Portal (https://ipcportal.who.int/) will be used for data
submission.

Before being directed to the survey, participants will be asked to complete a set of basic socio-demographic
questions (see annex 1).

Survey enrolment: National IPC focal points in ministries of health or other governmental organizations will
be contacted through WHO regional and country offices by email invitation, and will be provided with a
summary of the project, instructions and a link to the WHO Global IPC Portal.

The proposed role for the national IPC focal points is the following:
1. To lead the completion of the national part of the survey, that is IPCAT-MR, through the WHO IPC
portal, in collaboration with the national IPC team and other stakeholders, as appropriate.
2. To invite health care facilities across all levels of care and possibly, both public and private in their
countries to participate, and depending on the available capacity and organization of the health
system, to coordinate their participation, including providing WHO with the list of the facility focal
points who will submit the data to the WHO Global IPC Portal and follow-up accordingly. Each
country (national level) and facility (facility level) will complete and submit the survey only once.
Participation will be voluntary.

Additionally, health care facilities will also be invited to participate by WHO through existing networks at
regional and global level, such as the WHO Global IPC Network (GIPCN) or the SAVE LIVES: Clean Your Hands
campaign.

Who should complete the tool:

The national IPC focal point responsible for organizing and implementing the IPC programme and/or
activities at the national level should be in charge to lead the completion of the IPCAT-MR in discussion with
the national IPC team/committee. A collective and honest discussion to decide the answers to select is the
best way to take full advantage of this exercise in the spirit of improvement. If there is no team/ focal point
responsible for IPC, the tool should be completed and used by other professionals designated for quality
improvement, patient safety or antimicrobial resistance. Before completing the survey, it is critical that the
national IPC team be informed of the survey objectives, as an opportunity to conduct an assessment and
develop an improvement plan, while avoiding a culture of blame with regard to IPC and patient safety gaps
that may be identified.

IPC focal points at willing health care facilities or another health care professional with adequate IPC
knowledge to complete the tool will be the best professionals to complete the survey tool at the facility
level. Before starting the survey, this person should explain the survey objectives to the facility leadership
and ensure that it is understood as an opportunity to conduct a situational analysis and an improvement
plan, while avoiding a culture of blame with regard to IPC and patient safety gaps. Following agreement from
the facility leadership and/or the local IPC committee, the IPC focal point will start to enter the facility data
in the survey platform.

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Completion of each tool may require involvement of different health care providers (e.g. IPC team, senior
managers, clinical microbiologist, cleaners, etc.); thus, this timeline should allow for sufficient time and
preparation for comprehensive local discussions, ensuring the most accurate responses without impeding
normal duties and responsibilities. We suggest completing the tools in a paper version or on a tablet first and
then, entering the data electronically via the WHO IPC portal. On average, each tool should take about an
hour to complete. Both at national and facility level, the related tool needs to be completed only once.

Benefits of participating:
Country: there are no direct personal benefits of participation in this survey. However, participants will help
their country understand the national situation regarding IPC by using a validated and standardized tool.
Monitoring the status of IPC programmes is part of the commitments that member states made through the
recent WHA 75.13 on IPC2 resolutions on health emergencies, antimicrobial resistance, WASH and patient
safety. Completing the tool online in the WHO IPC Portal will immediately generate a downloadable report
of a situation analysis of the national IPC programme according to WHO standards, with guidance in areas
where there is room for improvement. We hope that after completing the survey, this report will be useful
to users to improve their IPC programme. The information submitted through the Portal will also be used by
WHO to assess the global situation regarding the implementation of the minimum requirements for IPC
programmes at the national level and to inform WHO country support for IPC. The final survey report will be
shared directly with participants and will also lead to a scientific publication in which the participation of
your country can be acknowledged if you choose.

Facility: conducting these assessments will help facilities understand their local situation regarding IPC
minimal requirements using validated and standardized tools. When this process is conducted in the spirit of
improvement, it allows the identification of strengths and gaps and greatly inform contextually relevant IPC
plans. By submitting the data via the WHO online survey system, the facility will have the opportunity to be
part of a global picture while maintaining data confidentiality and anonymity, and to be provided with
automatically generated and downloadable results and scores.

Data use and confidentiality: All data submitted via the WHO Global IPC Portal will be kept confidential.
Each country can create its own protected account for data submission. Some basic demographic
information about the person submitting the data in the online system will be requested for security reasons
and to facilitate data cleaning and quality checks (see annex 1). Country responses will be anonymised by
removing personal information and will be analysed alongside other responses from other countries to
produce aggregate results. Data will be stored by the WHO; thus, it will not be used to assess an individual
country’s performance and will not be used to inform any regulatory or punitive measures. Access to the
data will be restricted to a trained research team of which all members have signed a confidentiality
agreement. The data will be confidentially shared with the national authorities, if requested. The WHO
Headquarters Ethics Review Committee reviewed this global survey protocol and approved it with
exemption from ethics review.

For further instructions on each tool, please see the following links to the actual tools:
• Assessment tool of the minimum requirements for infection prevention and control programmes at
the national level
• Assessment tool on infection prevention and control minimum requirements for primary health care
facilities

2
Resolution WHA75.13. In: Seventy-fifth World Health Assembly, Geneva, 22-28 May 2022. Resolutions, decisions,
annexes. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2022 (https://iris.who.int/handle/10665/365610, accessed 30 October
2023).

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 • Assessment tool on infection prevention and control minimum requirements for secondary health
care facilities
• Assessment tool on infection prevention and control minimum requirements for tertiary health care
facilities

Annex 1 provides an overview of the basic demographic information to be entered before submitting the
survey data.
Annex 2 provides further instructions to guide through the relevant steps to submission on the WHO Global
IPC Portal.

Your participation will be extremely helpful for global IPC improvement efforts.
Thank you for your willingness to consider participation - We sincerely appreciate it!
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact [email protected]

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 Annex 1. Basic demographic information to be entered before submitting the survey data

On the WHO Global IPC Portal you will also be asked to provide the following basic demographic information
before proceeding to submitting the assessment tool data:

National level survey

• Type of governmental body:

o Ministry of Health
o National Institute of Public Health
o Other (please specify)

• Type of department:
o IPC
o Quality
o AMR
o Other (please specify)

• Your name

• Your country

• Your city

• Your organisation

• Your email

• Are you a national IPC focal point?

o Yes
o No

• Your IPC role:

o I am part of my country’s IPC team in the Ministry of Health
o I am lead of my country’s IPC team in the Ministry of Health
o I am part of my country’s IPC team in the National Institute of Public Health
o I am lead of my country’s IPC team in the National Institute of Public Health
o Other (please specify)

• Your professional title/job title:

o ID/IPC physician
o Clinical microbiologist
o Other physician (please specify)
o Nurse
o Pharmacist
o Other laboratory personnel (please specify)
o Epidemiologist
o Other (please specify)

• How many years have you been working in IPC?

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 o 0–5
o 6–10
o 11 or more

• What level of IPC specific training do you have?

o None
o On the job
o Diploma
o Undergraduate
o Postgraduate

• Do you have experience in completing other tools like the Tripartite AMR Country Self-Assessment
Survey (TrACSS; https://amrcountryprogress.org) or the Electronic IHR States Parties Self-
Assessment Annual Reporting Tool (e-SPAR; https://extranet.who.int/e-spar)?
o Yes, in completing the TrACSS
o Yes, in completing the e-SPAR
o Yes, in completing other (please specify)
o No

• Have you previously used any of the WHO IPC minimum requirement assessment tools?
o Yes, the assessment tool of the minimum requirements for IPC programmes at the national
level (IPCAT-MR)
o No, not yet

• Have you participated in previous global surveys conducted by WHO on IPC?

o Yes, in the WHO global survey on national IPC programmes in 2018
o Yes, in the WHO global survey on national IPC programmes in 2021
o Yes, in the WHO global survey on IPC programmes and hand hygiene in health care facilities
in 2019
o Yes, other (please specify)
o No, not yet

Facility level survey

• Type of facility
o Primary-level health care facility
o Secondary-level health care facility
o Tertiary-level health care facility
o Other (please specify)

• Your facility is:

o Public
o Private
o Other

• Enter the WHO Global Survey on IPC MR Hospital Code, if provided and you participate in a national
coordinated IPC survey data collection (automatically entered)

• Your name

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• Your country

• Your city

• Name of facility

• Your email

• Are you a facility IPC focal point?

o Yes
o No

• Your IPC role:

o I am part of my facility’s IPC team
o I am part of my facility’s IPC committee
o I am my facility’s IPC focal person but there is no IPC team at my facility
o Other (please specify)

• Your professional title/job title:

o ID/IPC physician
o Clinical microbiologist
o Other physician (please specify)
o Nurse
o Pharmacist
o Other laboratory personnel (please specify)
o Epidemiologist
o Other (please specify)

• How many years have you been working in IPC?

o 0–5
o 6–10
o 11 or more

• What level of IPC specific training do you have?

o None
o On the job
o Diploma
o Undergraduate
o Postgraduate

• Have you previously used any of the WHO IPC minimum requirement assessment tools?
o Yes, the assessment tool on infection prevention and control minimum requirements for
primary health care facilities
o Yes, the assessment tool on infection prevention and control minimum requirements for
secondary health care facilities
o Yes, the assessment tool on infection prevention and control minimum requirements for
tertiary health care facilities
o No, not yet

• Have you participated in previous global surveys conducted by WHO on IPC?

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o Yes, in the WHO global survey on national IPC programmes in 2018
o Yes, in the WHO global survey on national IPC programmes in 2021
o Yes, in the WHO global survey on IPC programmes and hand hygiene in health care facilities
in 2019
o Yes, other (please specify)
o No, not yet

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 Annex 2. Navigating on the WHO Global IPC Portal - Steps to submission

NOTE: We encourage all national IPC focal points to register an account at the WHO Global IPC Portal, if not
already done so. Please contact [email protected] to request your account being set up. We also encourage
all national IPC focal points to request a dedicated link to be sent out to the facilities to facilitate national
coordination. Please contact [email protected] to request your link.

You will either have received an email invitation or have been invited by WHO through existing networks at
regional and global level, with a link to the WHO IPC portal (https://ipcportal.who.int/). We suggest
completing the tools in a paper version or on a tablet first and then, entering the data electronically via the
WHO IPC portal.

Once you have clicked on the link you are directed to the WHO IPC portal. Either continue in English (per
default) or select your language of choice from the drop-down menu on the very right-hand corner of the
page.

Scroll down to the section “Ongoing global surveys”. Now follow the invitation “Participants of the WHO
Global Survey on IPC minimum requirements please click here”.

Once you have clicked the link at “click here” you are directed to the “Assessment tools” page of the survey.
Please scroll down and select the assessment tool on IPC minimum requirements relevant to your setting by
clicking the “Read more” button next to the respective tool.

After reading through the welcoming and introductory text you can again access and download the PDF file
of the assessment tool or – start the assessment by clicking on the button “Start assessment”.

You will further be directed to the “Begin Assessment” page. It starts with entering your basic demographic
information. Please see annex 1 to be familiar with the basic demographic information to be entered before
submitting the survey data (Note: national survey level vs. facility survey level).

Once you have entered the demographic information you will be asked to confirm, or have the option to
change, your data privacy settings with respect to WHO data protection standards. As well you will be asked
to indicate whether you agree that the WHO assessment tool data are shared with your national IPC focal
point coordinating the survey.

After you have made your selection, click on the “Next” button below. You will further be guided through
the process of submitting the assessment data. In the process of entering your assessment data you are
guided by a “Section progress” on the left hand side indicating the sections you have or have not completed.
For each section of the core components you are presented with the statement/question. Please always
choose one answer by clicking on the respective button. You can change your answer by clicking on the
other option. Once you have entered all answers the “Next” button will be enabled and you can continue by
clicking “Next”. After each completed section you will be able to save your progress by clicking on the “Save”
button. You can always click on the “Back” button to go back one section at a time and make changes to
your entries.

Once you have completed the data entry for all sections of the core components you are prompted
“You're ready to submit your assessment”. Once you've submitted your assessment you can't change your
answers. Click the “Submit” button once you are ready to submit.

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NOTE: until final submission all data entries are saved since the last time you clicked on the “Save” button
after a completed section. Once you close the web page and you have not submitted the data, all entries will
be saved for 30 days, starting date is the beginning of the assessment data entry. You will receive a reminder
via the email address you entered and be provided with a link to be able to come back and finish the
submission.

After you have submitted the assessment data you are provided with a “View Report” button. Click on the
“View Report” button to see your individually generated assessment outcome. Please click on “Download
report as PDF”. Save the pdf for further reference. NOTE: once you close the web page and you have not
downloaded your assessment outcome report, the page will not re-load. You will however receive an
automatically generated email with a copy of your report.