MRSA Cases Lowest Ever Recorded as NHS Actions Begin to Take Effect, UK
UK Fitness Secretary John Reid welcomed the latest commanded watch figures released today showing MRSA infection
rates at their lowest since recording began.
He also stated that the Health Protection Agency would publish data on MRSA every six months from now on, to keep the viewable
up to go steady with more frequently.
Health Secretary, John Reid, said:
“These latest figures exposition MRSA rates at the lowest since mandatory recording began - something we introduced in 2001.
“I congratulate the relentlessly employ of NHS organization from cleaners to consultants, led by the chief nursing officer Chris Beasley, in
achieving this important turning point.
“But there is hushed much more to do. That’s why I am announcing today that the NHS wilI navigator a new rapid swab technique to
connect patients with MRSA within hours rather than days. This commitment be solely important in discovering if MRSA is
coming into our hospitals with patients, for example, when they are transferred from punctiliousness homes.
“As we congratulate infection controls teams on their good it is important to remember two things - the UK has almost identical
levels of all hospital acquired infections as other modern health systems (between 6 and 10%).
“However, our information particularly problem is with the MRSA superbug that comes far because of two particular factors. Firstly,
unlike countries such as Holland, we did not taste it in the bud years ago when it re-emerged - to be realistic it took impede in the
old 1990s growing from four per cent resistance to around 30 per cent in 1997 - to become a bigger problem for us than
other countries. And, secondly, we also evidently put in specially acid types of MRSA.
“MRSA remains a problem, we are fascinating action on it, and this action is having an in truth.
“But nothing today should take away from the hard work of NHS staff who have made and will with to make the real
conflict fully their focus on this medically and scientifically challenging problem.
“No stone is being left unturned in the fight against the superbug. We are improving cleaning standards, piloting the latest
principles, rolling out cleanyourhands and making sure infection control is a fully staffed precedency for every NHS trust.
Dr Georgia Duckworth, an MRSA adroit at the HPA said:
“We salutation the initiatives announced by the Conditioned by trust in of Haleness which steal in the entire reduction of facility acquired
infections. We discretion be assisting at the Agency by carrying out the enhanced surveillance of MRSA which will collect more
tidings there cases such as the type of check they were acquired on, or if they were contracted in a distinguishable hospital
prior to the patient’s transfer. All of this information will purloin in our understanding of MRSA and can therefore inform
future control measures.”
The index beyond everything outlines the MRSA reports for every six months since 2001 from the mandatory surveillance plan.
Notes Due to the fact that Editors
1.
Patriotic MRSA reports from the mandatory scrutiny scheme in England (Apr
01 - Sept 04) and MRSA reports from the requisite surveillance stratagem for each NHS trust can be found on the DH website -
CLICK HERE:
MRSA reports cracked down by Government section can be found at the Healthiness Protection Agency’s website on
http://www.hpa.org.uk
2. The Government has already enchanted a range of actions to rehabilitate hygiene and infection restraint.
- Since 1997 it has:
- started biggest hospital building programme in the history of NHS;
- recruited more staff than all the time before including 77,500 more nurses;
- put in £68m to improve cleanliness and hospital appearance;
- ensured all medical centre trusts now have infection hindrance and control teams;
- ensured most hospital trusts have a Director of Infection Prevention and Control; and
- introduced 3,000 Fashionable Matrons who have successfully raised outline of infection control. We now require 3,000 modern
matrons, far exceeding our original quarry of 500.
- And the Control is doing more to improve hospital hygiene and cleanliness:
- facility hygiene and cleanliness and infection handle will be core elements of the untrodden NHS “health check” to be run by the
Healthcare Commission - the Commission published its proposals on 29 November 2004;
- we have launched the pre-eminent ever subject campaign to promote hand cleaning everywhere in the NHS - the ‘cleanyourhands’
campaign - over 140 acute Trusts have signed up so far;
- local patients groups will conduct cleanliness inspections and make results public, starting this year;
- published a Matron’s Charter - an action plan for cleaner hospitals; and
- the Chief Nursing Officer has made raising hospital cleaning standards and tackling MRSA her complete priorities.
2. The two hour swab check for MRSA. This will take a run-out powder steal testing far quicker than the current trial, which takes days to over.
The IDI-MRSA test which was discussed at the recent science summit on infection control discretion be tested at Heartlands Asylum
in Birmingham. It could improve patient directorate and reduce the endanger of MRSA transmitting in NHS hospital settings. Another
fly site commitment be identified soon to run further tests.
3. For further press enquiries alone please contact Ben Lewis on 020 7210 4990 or Claire Rich on 020 7210 5238 at DH Media
Centre.
GNNREF: 111953
Issued by : DOH Meet Office
