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News items on 'Hospital Acquired Infections'
Patient infection rate in Scottish hospitals falls
(The Scotsman 10/09/2009)
A DRIVE to improve hospital standards is cutting infection rates, the Scottish Government has said. The Patient Safety Programme has also led to shorter stays in intensive care for patients in some hospitals. The improvements were highlighted yesterday when health secretary Nicola Sturgeon visited Stirling Royal Infirmary, one of the hospitals taking part. Launched 20 months ago and set to run for five years, the programme aims to reduce hospital mortality by 15% and "adverse incidents" by 30%.
Patients to rate and compare hospitals online
(Daily Express 11/08/2009)
A NEW online service that allows patients to rate and compare hospitals was launched today. Users will be able to discuss issues such as cleanliness, car parking and waiting times on the website. And patients can also check mortality rates and the prevalence of superbugs such as MRSA and Clostridium difficile, with a new web-based scorecard available on the NHS website.
Viruses 'could be used to attack superbugs'
(Telegraph 22/04/2009)
Viruses could be used to combat deadly superbugs like MRSA and C. difficile scientists have said after creating a bug to attack bacteria. Prof Tony Wright, from University College London's Ear Institute, said: "Like you set a thief to catch a thief, we are setting a germ to kill a germ." In his study, highlights in New Scientist magazine, Prof Wright and his team identified and joined six viruses that "eat" a common ear infection, the Pseudomonas aeruginosa [P. aeruginosa] bacteria.
Steam weapon in superbug battle
(BBC 01/03/2009)
Hospitals in Scotland are to get more regular steam cleaning as part of the drive to rid them of infections such as MRSA and Clostridium difficile. The Scottish Government has announced it is spending £400,000 on 250 extra steam cleaning machines. Twenty machines are already available, but the investment will mean every health board has its own equipment.
Nurses attack muddled plan for superbugs
(The Scotsman 01/03/2009)
HOSPITAL workers are struggling to win the war against superbugs because of sporadic and uncoordinated Government initiatives and a "political agenda", the leader of Scotland's nurses warned last night. Theresa Fyffe, director of the Royal Coll of Nursing in Scotland, said numerous action plans against MRSA, C.diff and other potential killers had left nurses unsure which rules to follow.
Bug scandal boss fights for cash
(BBC 26/01/2009)
The former boss of an NHS trust where where 90 people died in a superbug scandal is asking the High Court to uphold her £250,000 payoff. Rose Gibb left her job days before the publication of a damning report into hygiene standards at Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust in Kent. The trust negotiated the £250,000 deal but withheld £175,000.
Superbugs in decline despite doctors failing on hygiene
(The Scotsman 15/01/2009)
Scottish figures released yesterday showed that nurses were complying with hand-hygiene guidance, with a score of 95%, against a target of 90%. For doctors the figure was 84%. There were 149 cases of MRSA between July and September - the lowest since monitoring began in 2003. Cases of C difficile also fell to 1,433 - down 17% from the previous quarter.
C.diff 'a factor in more deaths'
(BBC 19/11/2008)
General Register Office for Scotland statistics showed C.diff was a factor in 597 deaths last year, compared with 313 deaths in 2005. Information obtained by the BBC revealed that across the country almost half of hospitals which responded had seen cleaning budgets go down in real terms this year, while almost a third had beds closer together than recommended guidelines.
Superbug 'hit squad' to target Scottish hospitals
(Telegraph 11/11/2008)
Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish health minister, has announced the formation of a team of inspectors with the power to make unannounced checks on hospitals' anti-infection procedures. She said the previous system had been too reliant on self-assessment, and every hospital in Scotland will now be subject to random hygiene checks.
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