Five Minutes With…. an Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Assistant
"I truly believe I have the best job in the organisation!"
Meet IPC Assistant, Jean Dipple. Jean has dedicated 34 years to BCHC and stepped into her current Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) role during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this Five Minutes With feature, you'll discover more about her extensive experience in IPC, the critical work involved in preventing and managing infections, and how her role helps protect patients, colleagues and the wider community.
Hi Jean, please could you explain what an Infection Prevention and Control Assistant does and how your role impacts patients and colleagues?
I am part of a small team within the BCHC Infection Prevention and Control team that was commissioned back in 2020 to support adult social care homes with Infection Prevention and Control guidance and outbreak support, across Birmingham (now also includes Solihull). It was a difficult time for many care homes, so going in and providing face to face training, donning and doffing of personal protective equipment (PPE), hand hygiene and cleaning of the environment, whilst making it accessible and fun for all staff really made a difference.
Delivering IPC mandatory training within the care homes is a real privilege for me, chatting to the residents and building a trusting relationship with staff means that when outbreaks of flu, norovirus or COVID happen, they know they can call us to give support.
Our ethos has always been, “we are here to help”, so we developed the role of an IPC Champion, with bespoke training, workbooks and forums. We now have 581 Care Home IPC Champions that continue to make improvements.
Within BCHC I am a regular visitor to the wards and our Learning and Disabilities services to check and promote good hand hygiene and standard IPC precautions.
I'm proud to say that I was involved in designing and producing our “Go Gloveless” campaign to improve sustainability, reduce waste and remind staff that hand hygiene is key.
I enjoy meeting and talking about the work we do within IPC, so I am a regular at induction mornings, and provide an interactive learning experience for many of the new starters and trainees within Adult Specialist Rehabilitation.
My role within the team is always evolving, from producing a newsletter for our care homes, to being an IPC ambassador at trust events, and raising awareness of tuberculosis, antimicrobial resistance and sepsis. I truly believe I have the best job in the organisation!
What inspired you to work in this field?
After working in direct care for over 30 years, I thought working in IPC would be a gentler, calmer, more sedate pace of work… How wrong could I be! I have never been so busy, engaged, enthusiastic and passionate about all things infection control.
What do you love most about your role?
The learning! Every day there is something new occurring in the world of infectious diseases.
I am so honoured to meet and work alongside so many staff, from facilities, support staff, nurses and admin staff in both our organisation and the adult care sector of Birmingham and Solihull.
What is the most difficult thing about your role?
Driving across Birmingham, negotiating traffic is challenging.
You were awarded a Chief Nursing Officer badge in 2024, how did that feel?
I received a Values in Practice (VIP) Award as Corporate Superstar in November 2023 and was later awarded a Chief Nursing Officer Award in 2024 for being an “exceptional team player, a positive role model, consistently praising, supporting, encouraging and empowering staff”. This was then closely followed with a Cavell Star Award, again for inspiring and promoting IPC, safe care.
I still cannot quite believe that I am deserving of these awards, but to see the pride and joy on my Dad's face when showing him, shortly before he died meant the world to me.
Tell us something that people might not know about you?
I was the only girl to get kicked out of the school choir for not being able to hold a note!
Describe yourself in three words.
Talkaholic, curious, positive.