MRSA, Mersa, Staph, Staff Infection, Treatment & Symptoms

Gordon Brown Praises NHS Staff On Reductions In C. Difficile And MRSA Infections, UK

Link: Gordon Brown Praises NHS Staff On Reductions In C. Difficile And MRSA Infections, UK.

NHS staff should be "proud of their achievements" the PM says following news of large reductions in C.difficile and MRSA infections. Health Protection Agency figures released earlier today show that the rate of infection has been reduced by more than a third in the last 12 months. MRSA infections are now down 57 per cent since 2004, exceeding the NHS target. In a letter to health professionals, Mr Brown said that the "tremendous achievement" would protect the reputation of the NHS as one of the country's greatest institutions.

Labour dismisses Tory bid to impose superbug fines

Link: Labour dismisses Tory bid to impose superbug fines | Society | Guardian Unlimited.

Speaking on a visit to the Trafford general hospital in Manchester, Cameron said that hospitals should not receive full payment for treating patients who contract a healthcare-associated infection. Furthermore hospitals should cover the costs of any further hospital treatment arsing from a superbug, he said. But the health secretary, Alan Johnson, said the Conservatives were proposing something that was already contained in legislation before parliament. Cameron's speech was part of his bid to set the new-year agenda on healthcare policy. He pledged to make the health service a political priority in 2008 - the 60th anniversary of its inauguration - claiming the Conservatives could replace Labour "as the party of the NHS".

Lancet slams Brown on hospital hygiene

Link: Lancet slams Brown on hospital hygiene - Yahoo! News UK.

Hospital hygiene measures to tackle superbugs announced by the government this week are populist moves that will have little effect by themselves, a leading medical journal said on Friday. In an editorial, the Lancet said plans outlined by Prime Minster Gordon Brown and Health Secretary Alan Johnson to deal with deadly infections such as MRSA and C Difficile were not based on scientific evidence. Brown and Johnson announced a clampdown on infections and hospital cleanliness, including a 50 million pound ward-by-ward deep clean of hospitals. All medical staff, including doctors, would have to abide by a "bare below the elbows" dress code and wear short-sleeved tops. The weekly journal said Brown had "grasped the wrong end of the evidence stick" over deep cleansing of hospitals. "Disinfection of high-touch surfaces is what is needed, more so than removing visible dirt," it said. "The public understandably wants clean wards and crisp uniforms, but politicians must stop pandering to populism about hospital cleanliness and listen to the evidence."

Zero MRSA in UK - An Unrealistic Goal

Link: A GP's verdict on Alan Johnson's health plans - Telegraph.

Controlling hospital-acquired infections is a complicated business. Matrons have very important roles as leaders and drivers of cultural change – surveys show that hospital staff are very poor handwashers, for example, and their role in improving this dismal statistic could be vital. But what about microbiologists? They need empowering as well. We have always been fighting on the front line – but have usually been regarded by hospital managers as boffins in the background whose budgets can be raided for front line clinical services. Matrons regard us as deliverers of bad news that comes in technical language that their training has poorly equipped them to understand. Team work, not just dragons stalking the wards, is the way forward. It is reasonable to suppose that a dirty hospital is poorly run. If its public spaces are unclean, what is it like behind the scenes? But the converse is not necessarily true.

Welsh Labour wants all hospital cleaning back in house

Link: ISSA News Detail.

All hospital cleaning in Wales will be carried out by NHS employees, rather than contractors, if Labour wins the Welsh Assembly elections in May. A report in this week's Western Mail claims that Welsh Labour Health Minister Brian Gibbons was about to reveal the new policy at the Royal Glamorgan Hospital, Llantrisant, where standards of hospital cleanliness have been singled out for praise in a report by the independent Health Inspectorate Wales. Wales is believed to have the lowest rates of MRSA in the United Kingdom, but Labour says it will further improve that position by guaranteeing that all cleaners working in Welsh hospitals will be employed by the health service, according to the publication. The Assembly Government has already changed the tendering rules, allowing a level playing field for in-house and commercial bids... all but one cleaning contract is now operated by the National Health Service, with the final contract also expected to return to the fold. Labour has indicated that if it wins the assembly election, it will not oblige trusts to go to tender again, making cleaners in the NHS a permanent feature.

Labour says Tory Target Cut Could Increase MRSA

Link: News and speeches:: The Labour Party: the future of Britain.

Labour's Health Minister, Andy Burnham MP, responding to the Conservatives irresponsible plans to scrap all targets in the NHS said: "Labour's targets in the NHS have had an important effect on improving patient care.   They have their limitations, but galvanising action around one key area can achieve real change in the service. The work on MRSA and C difficile is a clear example of how targets can improve the health of patients. "There is clear evidence to show that cases of MRSA fell once Labour introduced the target and the MRSA rate has fallen ever since.  Are the Tories just happy to sit idly by not directing the service as to the important action that should be taken to tackle this disease. "But this isn't good enough. Although MRSA infections rates are coming down, faster progress is needed to meet our target and it remains a priority of this government to halve MRSA infections in hospitals by 2008. "David Cameron and Andrew Lansley should be up front about what their policies would really mean - an increases in hospital acquired infections.

Hospitals could get food factory hygiene standards

Link: SocietyGuardian.co.uk

Patricia Hewitt starts with a promise of militancy!

Hospital visitors may have to wear hairnets, clean overalls and take precautions such as walking through a tray of disinfectant before entering the building in the NHS's drive to reverse the spread of the MRSA superbug, the health secretary, Patricia Hewitt, warned yesterday. In her first speech since succeeding John Reid last week, Ms Hewitt compared the experience of visiting top-class food factories in her former job as trade and industry secretary with conditions in the NHS. "I find it extraordinary that we have tougher laws and higher standards for hygiene in our food factories than we do for our hospitals. It is extraordinary and not acceptable," she said on a day when doctors and health unions attacked her plans to expand the role of private sector health providers to meet NHS needs.

Morgan attacks Tory MRSA 'piffle'

Link: BBC NEWS.

First Minister Rhodri Morgan has accused Conservative leader Michael Howard of scaring patients with "unscientific piffle" over MRSA. Mr Morgan also said Mr Howard was "hiding behind" the death of his mother-in-law from the hospital infection when challenged about it. The first minister made the attack in an interview with website ePolitix.com. Conservative Welsh assembly member Alun Cairns called the comments "outrageous" and "underhand". During the interview, Mr Morgan labelled the Tory campaign for cleaner hospitals "absurd", saying it was "all about simply telling lies to to the British people about MRSA levels". "It is pure scaremongering without a shred of scientific evidence behind it," he added.

Blair slams 'nasty' Tory campaign

Link: BBC NEWS

But the Conservatives in turn accused Labour of "negative" tactics. "Tony Blair has lost touch. He wants the issues that matter to be swept under the carpet. It makes him angry when he is held to account for his failure and will do all he can to divert people's attention," said the Conservative health spokesperson, Andrew Lansley. Health Secretary John Reid, appearing with the prime minister, accused the Conservatives of a "systematic deception". "The Tories want to traduce and run down the NHS in the public perception because actually they want to run down the NHS." In a speech at his constituency in Folkestone, Mr Howard said: "We sent out a letter and it referred to the MRSA rates in the local hospital trust when it should have referred to the local hospital trusts. "And that was a mistake and I'm very sorry we made that mistake. "Mr Blair may be angry about the omission of a letter 's'. I'm angry about the 5,000 people who die every year from hospital-acquired infections in our country, that's what I'm angry about."

Targets not to blame says Reid

Link: BBC NEWS.

Mr Reid was speaking as a summit on ways to combat MRSA was due to begin. "Those who say it's about government targets are the same as those who say its all about dirty hospitals," he said. "It isn't just about dirty hospitals. In some of our clean hospitals - which get good clean ratings - there is still a spread of MRSA." Thousands of people who visited hospitals were carrying MRSA and always had done, he said. It was just that MRSA had not always been resistant to antibiotics. Mr Reid pointed out that resistance had increased to 31% from 4% in the five years before Labour came to power.

Reid blames Tories for spread of MRSA

Link: Portsmouth Today

THE hospital superbug was at the centre of the local General Election campaign today after Health Secretary John Reid blamed Tories for the outbreak. On a visit to Portsmouth's Queen Alexandra Hospital he refused to accept responsibility for the crisis. He claimed the Tories were to blame for cutting back on hospital hygiene while they were in power. His defence came as Tories launched an election onslaught around the bug. In full-page adverts in newspapers, including The News, they blamed Prime Minister Tony Blair for 5,000 deaths caused by dirty hospitals.

You cant tackle the superbug with a soundbite

Link: Labour

"Latest figures show MRSA rates have halved since 2001 in the NHS hospital Michael Howard visited today, thanks to the hard work of NHS staff supported by increased investment from the Labour government" "The Tories did not and can not tackle MRSA. "The Tories failed to tackle MRSA while in office. The Tories only idea for tackling MRSA, allowing nurses to shut wards, has been slammed by nurses themselves. You cannot tackle the superbug with a soundbite. "As Geraldine Cunningham the Director of Clinical Leadership at the Royal College of Nursing, says of their plans: 'It's much more complex than just closing a ward, actually there're always patients in wards if you moved them you'd spread infection'.

MRSA Victim Family Critical of Blair

Link: East Anglian Daily Times news.

THE family of MRSA victim Luke Day fear Prime Minister Tony Blair is not taking the fight against the killer bug seriously enough. Luke's father Kevin Fenton and grandmother Julie Fenton voiced their concerns after Mr Blair appeared in a live television debate about the health service. In the Sky News special yesterday, the Prime Minister was grilled by members of the public about the MRSA issue and fended off allegations that the Government had covered-up the true extent of the problem. He stressed that MRSA - methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus - was still rare and spoke of his desire to knock the bug “out of the system” But the Fentons, from Woodbridge, said they were not reassured by Mr Blair's comments and urged the Government to take more action to combat the MRSA problem.

MRSA a blow to NHS image

Link: sundaymail.

MOST Scots would desert the NHS for private hospitals if they could afford the bills, a Sunday Mail poll reveals today. And the majority reckon the service has deteriorated since Labour took power in 1997. The survey reveals a shocking lack of confidence in the NHS. Key factors are hospital waiting times and a huge increase in hospital infections such as MRSA.

Health Secretary denies he ignored MRSA memo

Link: Telegraph.

Sir Liam wanted the Bill to become law in the current session of Parliament to make hospitals statutorily obliged to enforce hygiene standards. He called for fines on dirty hospitals "to create a deterrent to killing and harming patients with MRSA and other infections". Yesterday Mr Reid said he had personally requested the memo from Sir Liam and that he was not legislating immediately because he wanted to see if the new law could be extended to care and nursing homes.

Reid in MRSA crackdown on hospitals

Link: Guardian Unlimited.

Hospital chief executives could be held legally accountable if they fail to adopt tough new hygiene measures designed to tackle the MRSA "superbug", the Government said. Health Secretary John Reid said he would be consulting on proposals for a statutory Hygiene Code covering hospitals, care homes and nursing homes in a bid to drive out the deadly infection. Following a meeting with health and social care inspectors, he said ministers were considering "enabling" legislation giving them the power to introduce a statutory code if necessary.

Government acted on MRSA, says Reid

Link: Guardian Unlimited

Health Secretary John Reid has dismissed claims the government failed to act on a warning it needed to pass emergency laws to ensure hospitals controlled the MRSA superbug. Britain's most senior doctor warned five months ago that emergency legislation was needed to enforce hygiene standards in hospitals to prevent them "killing and harming" patients with the MRSA superbug, it was reported. The Daily Telegraph said the government failed to act on recommendations made five months ago by Prof Sir Liam Donaldson, the Chief Medical Officer for England, for a Health Care Hygiene Act in this session of Parliament to ensure that hygiene standards could be enforced. (Reid) Responding to the claims, he said: "It's complete rubbish to suggest the Government is doing nothing on this issue. "I announced that I am exploring with Health and Social Care Inspectors the prospect of extending to hospitals, care homes and nursing homes a statutory Hygiene Code.

Tories were complacent over MRSA?

Link: The Sun

The angry PM said: “The Tory plan is clear — spread disillusion and cynicism. Run Britain down.” He blamed past Tory governments for longer waiting lists, cuts in doctors’ training places and a halt to hospital building. He also accused the Tories of letting MRSA run amok in hospitals. He said: “MRSA didn’t arrive on May 2, 1997. It burgeoned in the Tory years.” Then he issued a challenge to voters by saying: “If you believe the NHS today is worse than it was when Mr Howard and the Tories ran it, don’t vote for me — vote for him.”

Chorley MP asks for MRSA Answers

Link: Mrsa: 28 Feb 2005: Written answers

Lindsay Hoyle (Chorley, Lab) Hansard source
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the steps which are being taken to fight MRSA" >MRSA at (a) Chorley and (b) Preston Hospital.

Melanie Johnson (Welwyn Hatfield, Lab) Hansard source
The Department takes the issue of healthcare associated infections very seriously and has told the national health service that infection control should be at the heart of good management and clinical practice. The Department has set a target to reduce methicillin resistant "Staphylococcus aureus" by 50 per cent., by 2008 from an April 2005 baseline. The National Patient Safety Agency launched the first national hand hygiene campaign, "cleanyourhands" in September 2004. Commitments in the Chief Medical Officer's publication, "Winning Ways" and the Department's action plan, "Towards Cleaner Hospitals and Lower Rates of Infection" and the NHS's "Matron's Charter" have focused on evidence-based actions to reduce infections.

Blair slammed over Infections claim

Link: The Sun Newspaper Online

TONY Blair was slammed last night for claiming Britain’s hospital superbug crisis is no worse than in Europe. The PM failed to admit the UK’s record on killer MRSA is the POOREST in Europe. He tried to calm fears after figures showed the problem has doubled in four years. Mr Blair said the incidence of all infections in hospitals is on a par with European levels. But figures show 44 per cent of all bloodstream bugs in UK hospital patients are MRSA. Only Greece is as bad — also on 44 per cent — while it has been virtually beaten in Holland and Denmark, where the rate is just one per cent. The PM said: “If you look at hospital-acquired infections figures, they are not that different from any other European country.”