Evaluating infection prevention and control structure of Indonesian COVID-19 referral hospitals

Due to the emergence of COVID-19, hospitals are required to increase vigilance in providing care. However, their readiness for infection prevention and control (IPC) as a referral hospital in providing COVID-19 services has not been determined. This study aims to evaluate the IPC structure of 30 private non-profit Indonesian referral hospitals for COVID-19 based on the World Health Organization Infection Prevention and Control Assessment Framework (WHO IPCAF). A descriptive cross-sectional quantitative study was used, where 30 hospitals as the COVID-19 referral hospital were selected. The data collection was conducted by an online survey using the IPCAF questionnaire created by the WHO and was analysed with descriptive analysis. The majority of the hospitals’ IPC level is at an advanced level (73.3%). All type B hospitals have an advanced IPC level, while only 64.7% of type C and 71.4% of type D have an advanced level. The highest average IPC score is on the IPC guidelines component (94.0), while the lowest value of 71.9 is on the Surveillance of HAIs component. In the minimum scores, there were hospitals with the lowest scores in HAI Surveillance and Multimodal strategies, namely 20.0 and 25.0, respectively. Preparing human resource capacities, establishing functional programmes, developing and implementing IPC guidelines, and providing adequate supplies are needed to improve hospital IPC structures. CONTRIBUTION: This study demonstrates the necessity to improve hospital IPC structures to increase the resilience of health services to natural hazards and public health emergencies.