Screening will save lives and money - Scottish Study

Link: Evening Telegraph: News.

Screening all patients for MRSA on their admission to Ninewells Hospital will save NHS Tayside millions of pounds annually — despite a cost of more than £750,000 a year (writes Stefan Morkis). Earlier this month, a trial programme of screening all non-emergency admissions to hospital began in three health board areas — NHS Ayrshire and Arran, NHS Western Isles and NHS Grampian — and, if successful, will be rolled out nationwide next year. If a patient does test positive for MRSA, they will be given a five-day course of treatment. A report on the pilot project will be given to the Scottish Government next March. NHS Quality Improvement Scotland produced a report last year estimating the costs involved over a five-year period to screen all admissions to an 840-bed tertiary referral hospital, such as Ninewells. The cost was estimated at £750,000 in its first year, falling to £500,000 in its fifth. The costs would be made up of screening, laboratory tests, the isolation of potential carriers, the removal of MRSA from the body and contact precautions. Despite the cost, it is thought a successful screening programme would cut MRSA infections and ultimately save around £2.9 million a year.