Tackling MRSA: more plans launched, but death rates could be underestimates
MRSA at BPC
Delegates at the British Pharmaceutical Conference heard how pharmacy
staff have roles to play in fighting MRSA (p435) |
Cleanliness a top priority
Hospital cleanliness is to be a top prioity for the new Chief
Nursing Officer, Chris Beasley. Before taking up the CNO position,
Ms Beasley held a number of nursing jobs in hospitals and the community
and has worked for the NHS Modernisation Agency. |
New moves to tackle methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and other hospital-acquired infections have been announced recently by the Department of Health. The strategies come at the same time as a patient support group suggests that death rates from hospital-acquired infections are considerably higher than those set out in the National Audit Report.
Among the Department of Health’s initiatives is an action plan
for improving cleanliness in hospitals (a matron’s charter), launched
on 19 October at the Middlesex Hospital, part of the University College
London Hospitals Foundation Trust. It sets out ten key commitments, including
that nurses and infection control teams are to be involved in drawing
up cleaning contracts for hospitals and that matrons are to have the
power to withhold payment where the services provided have been inadequate.
Matrons are also to ensure that the importance of cleaning is recognised
and that cleaning staff are made to feel a part of the ward team.
In addition, trusts also need to ensure that specific roles and responsibilities
for cleaning are clear and that cleaning routines are agreed and well-publicised.
All staff working in health care are to receive education about infection
control and sufficient resources are to be dedicated to keeping hospitals
clean.Patients are to be advised that they have a part to play in monitoring
and reporting on standards of cleanliness.
In another development, NHS directors of infection prevention and control
were brought together for the first time last month at conferences in
London and Leeds to be briefed on their responsibilities for reducing
MRSA rates. Their roles are to include ensuring the sterility of invasive
equipment such as catheters as well as challenging prescribing decisions.
Organisations providing NHS services have already been informed in the “Winning
ways” document that they each need to have a director of infection
prevention and control, who is to report directly to trust chief executives
and boards.
Such initiatives to counter MRSA assume an even greater significance
in the light of a suggestion by a patient group that Government figures
for death rates attributable to hospital-acquired infection are out of
date. According to Tony Field, chairman of MRSA Support, the figure of
5,000 deaths per year stated in the National Audit Office report is based
on data from a decade ago. The group’s own figures result from
an analysis of official statistics, and indicate that hospital-acquired
infection causes about 20,000 deaths per year, with approximately half
of these being directly attributable to MRSA, he said. Mr Field added
that he would like to see disinfectants used instead of detergents for
hospital cleaning.
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Hospital Pharmacist