MRSA Scheme is £15m Failure

A £15M Scottish Executive campaign to slash MRSA rates has been branded a dismal failure after the number of infections rocketed across the country by almost 30%. Scotland on Sunday can reveal there were almost 280 MRSA cases between January and March this year, 60 more than between April and June 2005, when the campaign began. It is an enormous embarrassment for ministers, who pledged a year ago to spend £5m annually reducing cases of the potentially deadly superbug. In two areas of the country – Grampian and Lanarkshire – MRSA cases have soared outside the upper safe limit.

Politicians and patient groups last night reacted angrily to the news, calling for a radical rethink in the fight against healthcare-acquired infections, which kill hundreds of patients every year.

In March 2005,the Executive introduced measures such as providing alcohol gel hand washes beside every frontline hospital bed and training charge nurses as “cleanliness champions” in infection control. But the latest quarterly report on MRSA from Health Protection Scotland shows that infection rates have continued to rise in the past year.

Between April and June 2005, there were 216 cases. Between July and September last year, 243 cases were recorded. The next quarter that rose to 263 and between January and March this year it hit 276.

Dr Jacqui Reilly, consultant nurse epidemiologist and coordinator of the healthcare acquired infection surveillance at Health Protection Scotland, said she was surprised there had not been a reduction in infection rates. She said: “MRSA is an indicator of healthcare- acquired infections and you would hope to see a fall in MRSA rates with all the work that is going on proactively.”

In Lanarkshire, the infection rate almost doubled between January and March 2006, with 35 cases compared with just 19 the previous quarter. Cases at the cash-strapped Grampian health board have soared since April 2005, from a low of 13 to 28 in the latest quarter.

Officials at Health Protection Scotland last night said they were monitoring both health boards closely to see if the situation worsens. Reilly added: “If the rate continues to remain high into the next quarter, then it is an area of concern that needs more investigation.”

Among the measures introduced by the Executive was making health boards more accountable for MRSA rates.

It pledged to give 3,500 charge nurses and ward sisters training in infection control and create a housekeeper role in hospitals to focus on proactive reporting on cleaning.

But at the end of April, the Executive was still some way off its target for ‘cleanliness champions’. NHS Education Scotland said 1,655 members of the medical workforce had completed the course, but only 620 were charge grade nurses.

A further 2,000 nurses were registered for the course, but had yet to complete it. Shona Robison, the Scottish National Party’s shadow health minister, demanded immediate improvements, saying:

“It is important the investigations into the cause of these increases are concluded quickly so the necessary action can be taken.”

Tony Field, from MRSA Support, said: “The problem is not being tackled from the right angle. There cannot be any significant improvement unless positive measures for screening staff are introduced.”

The Executive insisted improvements were being made and that the campaign had to be viewed over the full three-year period for which it is due to run. It also pointed to MRSA figures weighted for numbers of patients, which show a less dramatic increase. Infections per 1,000 “acute occupied bed days” have gone up from 0.18 to 0.21.

Last night, a spokeswoman for NHS Lanarkshire said it had investigated the rise in MRSA rates, but “no specific problems have been identified. We are confident levels have now returned to accepted limits.”

A spokesman for NHS Grampain said: “Preliminary analysis for the second quarter of 2006 suggests the rate has fallen to within nationally set targets.”