Hospital Failings Allow Superbugs To Spread
Thousands of patients risk contracting potentially deadly superbugs because NHS hospitals are not taking basic steps to stop the spread of infection, research for The Daily Telegraph reveals today.
An independent study of 167 NHS hospital trusts in England found that infection control was in a state of disarray, with hospitals unable to reassure the public that they are screening and isolating enough infected patients.
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Patient groups said the results showed that the Government was losing the battle against MRSA and other deadly infections
Only 10 of the trusts surveyed could provide data showing that they had isolated more than 90 per cent of individuals with MRSA – a standard that infection control experts regard as fundamental in the battle against hospital-acquired bugs.
The findings, provided by Dr Foster Research, the independent health information company, raise serious questions about the Government’s promise to make infection control a top priority.
The figures come at a time when cases of C. difficile and MRSA are soaring.
Patient groups said the results were “alarming” and showed that the Government was losing the battle against MRSA and other deadly infections.
While best practice guidance from the Department of Health leaves it up to individual trusts to decide how they screen for MRSA, scientific evidence shows that rapid screening and isolation are critical to combating the spread of hospital-acquired infections.
However, in half of the trusts surveyed, patients had to wait up to 72 hours for their screening results to be returned, putting thousands of others at risk of contracting an infection.
In only five trusts, patients were screened and told whether they were infected in less than 24 hours.
Deaths linked to hospital superbugs have increased dramatically.
Government figures show that between 2004 and 2005, the number of deaths recorded as associated with MRSA rose 39 per cent. Those that mentioned Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) rose by 69 per cent. Data from the Office for National Statistics showed that mentions of C. difficile on death certificates rose from 2,247 in 2004 to 3,807 the following year, while mentions of MRSA rose from 1,168 to 1,629.
The Dr Foster Research audit revealed that few trusts were able to provide robust data on hospital-acquired infections.
Only 18 trusts were able to say how many patients diagnosed with MRSA had been isolated in a single room or on a ward housing only infected patients in 2005/6.
One trust in the South Central region said: “These are unknown to us at the moment – we have no way of collecting this data.”
A trust in the East Midlands said: “All patients are isolated eventually – some had gone home by the time they were identified.”
Hospitals in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland were excluded from the audit.
Michael Summers, of the Patients’ Association, accused the Government of not taking seriously the risk of MRSA.
“Cuts in spending in the NHS have had a devastating impact on infection control. People phoning our helpline tell us that bed sheets aren’t being washed and that beds are not being cleaned,” he said.
“It’s not good enough. The number of deaths from MRSA has been rising steadily since 1993 when 51 people died from the bug. In 2005, almost 1,700 people lost their lives from the infection.”
Peter Wilson, a consultant microbiologist at University College London Hospitals, said there were not enough single rooms to isolate infected patients. In the absence of isolation wards, he said it was all the more important that patients at risk of MRSA were screened as soon as possible.
Countries with low rates of hospital-acquired infections, such as the Netherlands, are able to isolate infected patients because their hospitals are less crowded than in Britain. Bed occupancy rates in the Netherlands are around 60 per cent compared with more than 87 per cent in Britain.
Andrew Lansley, the shadow health spokesman, said: “Over the last nine years there have been far too many cases where the Government has allowed MRSA to become endemic. Three years ago we called on the Government to implement a ‘search and destroy’ strategy that has been effective in Holland and Denmark but not even piloted in England.
“It is time for us to take on the threat of new and more dangerous bacteria. It is time for the Government at the very least to fund a pilot search and destroy scheme”.
Lord Hunt, the Health Minister, said: “MRSA figures are continuing to fall, but there is no room for complacency. One avoidable infection is one too many and we are determined to ensure the NHS has good hygiene procedures.”