NHS patients are set to get more access to a wider range of information about healthcare associated infections in a drive to improve quality of care, Health Secretary Andrew Lansley announced today.

From next year, hospitals will be required to monitor reported infections of Meticillin Sensitive Staphylococcus Aureus (MSSA) and E. coli, which have been rising in recent years.

Extending mandatory surveillance will identify the true scale of the problem and lead to improved standards in hospitals as patients start to use this information to make informed decisions about their healthcare.

Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said: "Patients deserve the highest standards of care and expect to be kept safe from harm in hospital. We are now publishing weekly MRSA and C.difficile statistics, enabling patients to make an informed decision about where to go for treatment, based on the issues which matter to them.

"We will extend our system of mandatory reporting in the New Year to include MSSA from January 2011, with others like E.coli to follow in line with expert advice.

"Armed with the right information, patients themselves will drive up standards in the NHS as they decide where they want to go based on the best available data. This is a vital thrust of our reforms to build a patient-centred NHS that achieves outcomes for patients that are among the best in the world."

Voluntary surveillance figures show that since 2005 there has been a 37 per cent increase in E. coli bacteraemia reports – and although the number of MRSA bacteraemias has declined since 2004/5, there was been an increase in MSSA infections from 2000 until 2009.

However, many of these cases may not be healthcare associated infections (HCAIs), as people can get both MSSA and E. coli infections away from hospitals. Mandatory surveillance will help to identify origins of infections, and intervene to drive down infections that are occurring in healthcare settings.

Mr. Lansley added: "This is part of our transparency drive across Government. Making more information on the NHS available to patients and the public is the key to improving patient choice and accountability as well as better outcomes for patients.

"We have seen the impact that mandatory surveillance can have, with lower MRSA and C.difficile rates – by extending that surveillance and making it available to patients in a timely and transparent manner, we aim to successfully drive down other infections."

(BMcN/GK)