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06/02/2006
'Hit squads' to help hospitals tackle MRSA
Special MRSA 'hit squads' are to be sent to 20 NHS trusts which are failing to reduce the number of patients infected by the potentially fatal superbug.
The Department of Health revealed that half of all trusts in England are behind on a target to reduce MRSA infections by 50% by 2008.
In total, there were 7, 269 cases of MRSA bloodstream infections between October 2004 and September 2005.
Health Minister Jane Kennedy said she was "disappointed" by the result. She said: "To reinforce the efforts at Trusts that are furthest from their target I am setting up teams of specialists to work with them through 2006. These teams will begin first wave work now at Sandwell, Northumbria and Aintree NHS Trusts who have volunteered for help, and then move on to around seventeen more Trusts though 2006."
Ms Kennedy said that although infections affected only a "tiny fraction" of the 12 million patients admitted to hospital every year, more cases were being reported due to better surveillance.
The new MRSA teams will diagnose the issues currently preventing reduction on MRSA numbers, develop practical action plans and put in place management and support arrangements that facilitate sustained improvement.
Jamie Rentoul, the Healthcare Commission's head of strategy, said that patients needed to be reassured that the NHS was doing all it could to minimise the risk of MRSA infections. He said: "To do this, we need to get to the bottom of why some trusts seem to be better at handling hospital-acquired infections than others."
However, Liberal Democrat health spokesperson Steve Webb said that more effective infection control, along with greater provision of isolation facilities and a reduction in hospital overcrowding was needed.
(KMcA)
The Department of Health revealed that half of all trusts in England are behind on a target to reduce MRSA infections by 50% by 2008.
In total, there were 7, 269 cases of MRSA bloodstream infections between October 2004 and September 2005.
Health Minister Jane Kennedy said she was "disappointed" by the result. She said: "To reinforce the efforts at Trusts that are furthest from their target I am setting up teams of specialists to work with them through 2006. These teams will begin first wave work now at Sandwell, Northumbria and Aintree NHS Trusts who have volunteered for help, and then move on to around seventeen more Trusts though 2006."
Ms Kennedy said that although infections affected only a "tiny fraction" of the 12 million patients admitted to hospital every year, more cases were being reported due to better surveillance.
The new MRSA teams will diagnose the issues currently preventing reduction on MRSA numbers, develop practical action plans and put in place management and support arrangements that facilitate sustained improvement.
Jamie Rentoul, the Healthcare Commission's head of strategy, said that patients needed to be reassured that the NHS was doing all it could to minimise the risk of MRSA infections. He said: "To do this, we need to get to the bottom of why some trusts seem to be better at handling hospital-acquired infections than others."
However, Liberal Democrat health spokesperson Steve Webb said that more effective infection control, along with greater provision of isolation facilities and a reduction in hospital overcrowding was needed.
(KMcA)
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