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Table 1 Interview guide, including supplementary questions

From: Understanding determinants of infection control practices in surgery: the role of shared ownership and team hierarchy

Role of infection control in preventing SSIs

• In your view, what are the most important factors in preventing SSI?

• What activities in your day-to-day work do you do to help to prevent SSI?

Knowledge of SSI preventive measures

• Are you aware of any policies or guidelines that apply to SSI prevention?

• How significant a problem do you feel SSIs are in this Trust?

Diagnosis and surveillance

• How are SSIs usually diagnosed and communicated among staff at an individual patient level and globally?

• How would you and others know if there was a problem with SSIs here?

• What happens to patients after discharge? How would you know if they were infected?

Barriers to compliance SSI preventive measures

• How easy is it for you to prevent SSI? Is it ever difficult? Why?

• Thinking specifically about policies or guidelines that apply to SSI prevention, to what extent do you feel these are practicable?

Facilitators to compliance SSI preventive measures

• Who is accountable for SSI prevention, in your opinion?

• What sort of feedback do you get on these activities - at an individual or team level?

 ◦ How often does this occur? Is the feedback confidential or open?

 ◦ How often do you get the chance to watch others work?

• What do you see as important in terms of you colleagues’ roles in preventing SSIs?

 ◦ Does this work well or are there any problems? Why?

 ◦ Do you feel you are in position to question the infection control behaviours of your colleagues and superiors?

 ◦ How would you describe the culture of transparency around SSI here?

• Is there anything you feel can be done to improve SSI rates in your hospital?

• Is there any new technology, gadgets, apps etc. that you know of that relate to SSIs?

  1. Abreviation: SSI Surgical site infection