Current status of infection control in tertiary public general hospitals of selected provinces in eastern, central and western China and regional characteristics

OBJECTIVE To focus on the factors such as construction of hospital-associated infections (HAIs) management mechanism, construction of relevant talents for HAIs control and construction of HAIs control discipline and investigate the current status of working patterns of infection control in tertiary public general hospitals across selected provinces in eastern ,central and western China,analyze the difference among the above regions. METHODS From Aug 2024 to Sep, 2024, with the assistance of provincial HAIs management quality control center, dozens of tertiary public general hospitals were conveniently extracted from 10 provinces (autonomous regions, municipality directly under the Central Government) and Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, a questionnaire survey was conducted; the relevant variables for infection control working patterns of the tertiary public general hospitals were observed, and the differences in the infection control patterns were identified. RESULTS The infection control professionals (ICP) from provinces of eastern China were at relatively high levels of entry qualification assessment (78.89%) and frequency of regular training (43.75% monthly training) but 17.78% had sufficient clarity in career promotion pathways. The central region, taken Hunan Province as example, had strict requirements for clinical experience (86.36%), but had less comprehensive management system, with 42.42% having partial association with discipline development. The selected provinces of western Chine had more complete promotion mechanisms (37.63% had clear pathways), but had loose entry requirements (62.37% did not have professional certificates/assessment requirements) and lower implementation rate of national policies (with the complete implementation rate 55.32%). CONCLUSIONS There is regional heterogeneity in the infection control patterns among the tertiary public general hospitals from the selected provinces in eastern, central and western China. The provinces from eastern China are better at professional management but have less incentives, the provinces from central China stress on experience but neglect systems, and the provinces from western China are resource-constrained but have effective incentives.