Article Surfing Archive

Whenever the debate over NHS funding and efficiency is raised the controversy surrounding hospital cleanliness and the reported explosion in bugs and hospital contracted infections is rarely far behind.
It's hardly surprising as more than 100,000 patients are reported to contract superbug infections every year - costing the NHS an estimated '1 billion plus. Figures show that record numbers of people are dying from either MRSA, the drug-resistant bug that infects surgical wounds, or from Clostridium Difficile (C Diff), a virulent form of diarrhea. In fact death certificates for 2006 showed that more than 8,000 patients died from superbug infections in England and Wales alone.

More than 55,000 cases (that's more than 1,000 new cases every seven days) of C Diff occur each year and the number is rising. More people die from C.diff than die on our roads, with one in 250 death certificates citing C. difficile as a contributory or main factor.

National statistics reveal a dramatic increase in deaths from MRSA with MRSA mentioned on one in every 500 death certificates. Most of the deaths involving MRSA were in the older age groups with deaths involving MRSA in the 85 and over age group 916 and 417 deaths per million population for males and females respectively. In the under 45 age group male and female deaths were 3 and 2 per million respectively.

Patients Association chairman Michael Summers expressed concern with the trend commenting to the BBC: "We are disappointed by these new figures. It is clear that MRSA and hospital infections are winning the war in many of our wards."

Both infections are preventable and treatable if identified and dealt with soon enough. The Government's target, set in March 2004, is to halve the number of MRSA cases. As part of their offensive on the scourge of super bugs the government has overseen over the last 5 years the appointment of infection control managers responsible for hospital cleanliness. Improvements to date are reported to have been modest.

Amongst various measures put in place hospitals recently benefited from '40 million 'deep clean' however subsequent analysis revealed that since the campaign nearly a quarter of health trusts have still failed to meet basic hygiene standards. According to the annual 'health check' of English NHS trusts by the Healthcare Commission, 103 NHS trusts out of 391 are breaching guidelines brought in to tackle these hospital-acquired infections. In reality the figure might be even higher. Of the 103 trusts that now admit falling short on at least, 63 had been non-compliant the previous year. The commission has warned trusts they have 10 months to improve before a new regulator comes into force.

Yet when hospital managers take control of the situation, outcomes can improve. Speaking in the Daily Mail recently Edwina Currie cited her experience of The Royal Worcester Hospital where all its old commodes and every mattress had been replaced. Infection rates dramatically fell. She also recommended the thorough sterilization of equipment, clean uniforms and in particular staff washing their hands before they touch a patient as essential preventative measures.