Reducing HCAIs is a series of Conferences developed by GovToday to target the problem of Healthcare Associated Infections (HCAIs) in the health and social care system, 'infection acquired as a consequence of a person's treatment by a healthcare provider/worker in the course of their duties in hospital, or as a result of medical care delivered in the community'.

With the imminent closure of the HCAI National Programme - which has achieved significant reductions in the life-threatening MRSA and Clostridium Difficile infections - the £20 billion efficiency savings now required across the NHS by 2013, and the considerable upheaval in store with the planned radical repositioning of NHS services, there are very real anxieties regarding maintaining patient safety and reducing HCAIs.

Breaking the cycle of infection whether from the hospital to the community or vice versa, requires firstly, a focus on the importance of clinical leadership in delivering effective services and secondly, on maintaining the high standard of patient-led care. Despite national progress on the reducing HCAIs agenda, common themes of systemic failure in both hospitals and community care organisations remain, whether as a result of a lack of leadership, effective training and/or communication on the ground.

Reducing HCAIs 2011 – Maintaining Patient Safety: Breaking the Cycle of Infection Conference and Exhibition brings together international pioneers of patient safety models and national experts leading the current fight against HCAIs in order to identify new infection threats, whilst analysing and sharing best practice examples of effective management systems, clinical practice, prevention procedures, and the technology solutions for the future.

With radical change once again the order of the day for the health sector, this Conference will provide vital criteria for maintaining patient safety, highlighting the prerequisites necessary for achieving a 'zero tolerance' approach, breaking the cycle of infection across the healthcare economy.