Department of Health Care Homes: Skin Infections/Infestation Guidelines (UK)

The Skin Infections/Infestation will have been diagnosed by a doctor (usually the resident’s general practitioner), who should be the source of advice on treatment of the individual’s illness Care homes should ensure that they provide suitable and sufficient information on each resident’s infection status whenever they are moved from the care of one organization to another. It is important to remember that the resident in isolation will be both physically and psychologically isolated. When a decision about isolating an infected resident is taken, it is important to take into account the likely effect on the resident. Elderly people may become disorientated and confused by isolation, which should therefore be avoided unless it is really necessary.