Teams to be sent to NHS trusts to tackle MRSA bug
Biomedical Imaging Unit, Southampton General Hospital/SPL
Electron micrograph of MRSA |
Support teams are to be sent into 20 NHS trusts to advise them on how to reduce levels of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus
aureus, the Department of Health has announced.
The news came as the Health Protection Agency released figures showing
that the number of cases of MRSA bloodstream infections reported between
April and September 2005 (3,580) has risen by 55 cases compared with
the same period in 2004.
The DoH says that only half of trusts are on target to achieve a 50 per
cent reduction in MRSA infections by 2008. Around 20 trusts face a “significant
challenge” and it is these trusts that will be targeted by the
support teams. The teams will help trusts to diagnose issues preventing
them from reducing MRSA infections, to develop and implement practical
action plans and to demonstrate to other trusts that, by adopting best
practice, rates can be reduced to lower levels, and at a faster rate
than previously thought.
In addition, a performance improvement network — a network of trusts
with a mixed record of delivery against their local delivery plans — will
meet quarterly to share best practice.
A new data reporting system was also previewed by the DoH and the HPA
this week. The system allows trusts, the DoH and the HPA to monitor where
the MRSA infection occurs, the location of the patient, the stage of
infection and the specialty under which the patient is being cared for.
Commenting on the HPA figures, Jamie Rentoul, head of strategy at the
Healthcare Commission, said: “The Commission will be undertaking
a national study over the next few months to assess exactly what differentiates
trusts that are succeeding in lowering the incidence of MRSA from those
that aren’t.” He added that the Health Bill aims to strengthen
the Healthcare Commission’s powers to enforce necessary standards
of good practice on the prevention of hospital-acquired infections.
Figures obtained by the Conservative Party under the Freedom of Information
Act reveal that 34,432 cases of MRSA (not only systemic infections) were
reported in 63 trusts in 2004. If this figure is extrapolated to all
trusts, it would reach almost 100,000, the party says.
MRSA screening A new molecular screening test that aims to reduce
the time taken to identify patients infected with MRSA has been tested
in 1,053 patients admitted to an intensive care unit. The test is
a rapid polymerase chain reaction assay that allows for same-day
diagnosis of MRSA carriage through detection of the mecA gene.
The study, published in Critical Care this week (2006;10:R25), found that the
test decreased overall time to notification from four days to one day. In surgical
ICU patients no effect on MRSA infection rates was observed but 1,227 pre-emptive
isolation days were saved. In medical ICU patients a substantial decrease in
infections was seen when the test was combined with systematic on-admission screening
and a pre-emptive isolation policy.
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