A patient's journey through the operating department from an infection control perspective

The path a patient negotiates through an operating department is shaped by its design and layout, which should be determined by infection control requirements to ensure the safety of both patients and practitioners. How this is achieved is discussed in relation to an operating department in a local trust, together with how infection control, and therefore the prevention of surgical site infection, is achieved through hospital policies and key practices within a theatre by theatre practitioners and surgeons.