About Us

Prevention of HAI was identified as a priority initiative by the Department of Health Western Australia (DoH WA) who supported the foundation of the Healthcare Associated Infection Council of Western Australia (HICWA) and the establishment of the Healthcare Associated Infection Unit (HCAIU) in 2007.

The HCAIU has established the HICWA Executive Group (Area Health and Hospital Executives) and the HICWA Expert Advisory Group, the latter who are medical and nursing experts in various infection prevention and control related disciplines to ensure appropriate consultation occurs with statewide issues.

The HCAIU is the administrative body for the Healthcare Associated Infection Surveillance Western Australia (HISWA) program. A sound surveillance system, such as HISWA, is the cornerstone for any infection prevention program and complements multimodal infection prevention strategies.

The HCAIU has strong links with the Safety and Quality Investment for Reform (SQuIRE) Clinical Practice Improvement Program (CPI) within the DoH Office of Safety and Quality, working collaboratively to highlight improved patient outcomes and focus attention on opportunities for infection prevention.

The two major focus areas of the HCAIU are:

Surveillance: Collation and analysis of accurate and credible infection surveillance data from WA hospitals enables appropriate prioritisation, planning and operational response.

Policy Development: Policies that reflect current evidence-based practice and local surveillance information should inform relevant prevention and control programs in WA hospitals. 



HICWA Organisational Structure Chart  - 49.7 KB PDF document