MRSA (Mersa) Questions

NHS website shows infections down in Wales

Link: BBC NEWS

    Rates of MRSA in Welsh hospitals have fallen slightly in the past year, according to a new official website. The website, which went live on Friday, allows people to see the how their local hospitals are coping with fighting bloodstream infections. The information is given against a standard rate of 100,000 "bed days". The number of E.coli infections, which includes all types, and not just the potentially deadly 0157 strain, is the highest at 34. MRSA is the fourth most common infection, with an all-Wales rate of 10 per 100,000. However, variations in levels can be explained by the procedures carried out by hospitals, according to the trusts. For example, Velindre NHS Trust in Cardiff, which treats patients with cancer, has an MRSA rate of 30 per 100,000. However, the treatments needed for cancer patients carry a higher risk of infection.

Welsh hospital falls short

Link: More

It has also emerged that, despite the growing fears over MRSA, Neath Port Talbot Hospital had to be told to get an antibacterial hand wash for its cafe.

No-One Told Me My Husband Was Dying of MRSA

Link: RedOrbit

      RELATIVES of a North Wales man who contracted killer bug MRSA at a North Wales hospital claimed staff didn't tell them. David Tennant, of Rossett, near Wrexham, died aged 83 in Wrexham Maelor Hospital on October 31 last year. He had bronchial pneumonia caused by MRSA infection. Mary Tennant only learned of her husband's condition from her housekeeper who heard it from a nurse, she said following yesterday's inquest. And Mrs Tennant and her son Graham said in court it was almost impossible to communicate with many of the staff because they had poor English. North East Wales NHS Trust Andy Scotson said Filipino staff were well established at the hospital and he was unaware of any language difficulties. Mr Tennant suffered from failing health for several years but kept working until reaching 80 as a clockmaker and repairer. Speaking after the hearing, Graham Tennant, from Leicester, said he felt "disappointed" with aspects of his father's care. "At no point were we told of the seriousness of my father's condition and at no time were we given any prognosis," he said.

Superbug took 3 years to kill

Link: icNorthWales

     A NORTH Wales man died almost three years after contracting the killer MRSA bug. An inquest heard how former theatre manager John Wardell caught the deadly infection during a major hip operation at Abergele hospital in May 2003. The keen long-distance walker and his long-term partner Sheila Whiteside were both vocal in their demands for more government action to crackdown on the spread of MRSA. Yesterday a Prestatyn inquest recorded an accidental death verdict on the 76-year-old who lost his fight for life on December 15 at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd, Bodelwyddan. Mrs Whiteside has discussed her part-ner's case with Clwyd community health council officers and plans further talks before deciding whether to take legal action against the Conwy and Denbighshire NHS Trust.

Swanse specify a more stringent cleaning routine

Link: Sweeping changes

    Sweeping changes are about to be made over the way Swansea's hospitals are scrubbed. The move is part of the fight against potentially fatal bugs such as MRSA. The new multi-million pound contract for domestic and portering services will be decided on Monday at a special meeting of the city's NHS Trust. Four bids were shortlisted, and two have emerged as favourites. But whoever gets the job - the in-house bid or an outside company - cleaning is to be increased in both clinical and public areas. All four bidders had been asked to put forward their offer based on an enhanced cleaning specification.

Hospital 'tsars' will fight infection

Link: icNorthWales

   THE Welsh Assembly yesterday approved plans to appoint clean hospital "tsars" to fight infections.

The go-ahead was given after health minister Brian Gibbons accepted the proposal in the battle against superbugs like MRSA.

Labour AM for Swansea East Val Lloyd used the Assembly equivalent of a Commons Private Member's Bill to demand health trust directors be given specific responsibilities for cleanliness and hygiene.

These watchdogs would have to report on cleanliness issues to NHS trust boards and community health councils.

She told AMs the quality of patient care was a priority and the public should feel "an uncompromising confidence in our NHS".

Doorknob swabber for hire strikes again

Link: icWales - Killer bug in children's hospital.

Suppose you deep clean a hospital and readmit the public. Given that up to 30 per cent are MRSA positive how long before they contaminate surfaces? Seconds, minutes? This type of shock horror story misses the point completly. Short of disinfecting the whole nation and giving out 20 million courses of the treatment that decolonizes people there are always going to be surfaces that have MRSA on them. Wound protection and hand hygiene are key. But the media  will still pay for someone to tell them the obvious.

DANGEROUS levels of killer bug MRSA have been found at Wales' brand new �21m children's hospital - just seven weeks after it opened. A Wales on Sunday investigation handled by one of Britain's top super-bug experts discovered massive colonies of MRSA bacteria in the Children's Hospital for Wales, Cardiff. Last night Cardiff and Vale NHS Trust, which runs the hospital, vowed to carry out a top-level probe into our findings. MRSA, short for Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, is a bacteria that cannot be killed by antibiotics. Our investigation was prompted by the tragic death of Luke Day, the super-bug's youngest victim, who was just 36 hours old when he died of MRSA at Suffolk's Ipswich Hospital in February. We took 10 swabs in public places at the state-of-the-art hospital and sent them to the Chemsol lab in Northampton. The results showed five of the samples turned out to be completely negative. But five contained the super-bug - two at dangerously high levels, which were in the men's toilets and on a lift button on the ground floor. Our expert said it was one of the highest recordings he had seen.

Damning dossier reveals hospital filth

Link: icWales

A DAMNING report on the dirty state of hospital wards has been unveiled by health watchdogs. The catalogue of grime was uncovered following an unannounced spot check and has fuelled fears on the spread of the hospital superbug MRSA. The inspection of wards at Cardiff’s University Hospital of Wales revealed dirty toilets, a widespread covering of dust on furniture and fittings, a chipped sink and pillows lying on the floor. It was also pointed out that a piece of discarded toast had been left lying on the floor for three days. A report of the inspection has been sent to hospital bosses who have admitted that cleaning was not up to standard.

Superbug info coughed up

Link: Superbug info coughed up.

THE SUPERBUG MRSA was considered a factor in the deaths of six patients treated at Withybush Hospital last year, the Mercury can reveal. Now, the call is being made for other hospitals to make their statistics known so comparisons can be drawn. Under the new freedom of information act, the Mercury asked Pembrokeshire and Derwen NHS Trust: "How many deaths were there at Withybush Hospital last year (2004) in which the so-called superbug MRSA was considered a factor?" The Trust came back: "There were seven patients that had blood culture, confirming MRSA bacteraemias. "We have been able to identify from our record systems that six of these patients are now deceased and one is alive." The Trust added that of those six patients, four death certificates make no reference to MRSA as the cause of death. A fifth cause of death is unknown to the Trust.

Superbug hospital has double cases

Link: icNorthWales

PATIENTS at Ysbyty Gwynedd are 14 times more likely to be infected with the hospital superbug than at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd, according to figures released yesterday. Statitstics published under the Freedom of Information Act revealed Gwynedd's main hospital, in Bangor, had Wales' second highest MRSA rates in 2002-2003. Infections were more than twice the national average. Figures released under the new act for the following year suggest infection rates had fallen - matching the Welsh average - but were 14-times higher than Ysbyty Glan Clwyd and double the rate at Wrexham Maelor. Political leaders immediately demanded explanations for the varying rates.