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31 patients died with superbugs
Alice McKeegan31/ 5/2008
NEW figures have revealed that 180 patients died after contracting hospital superbugs at the region’s four biggest hospitals between 2002 and 2006.
Eighty two patients died after contracting C.difficile and there were 98 fatal cases of MRSA, according to a report by the Office for National Statistics.
The study revealed that in that time 12 patients died after contracting C.difficile at Rochdale Infirmary, and 19 with MRSA.
Pennine Acute NHS Hospitals Trust, which runs Rochdale Infirmary, Royal Oldham, Fairfield and North Manchester, defended the figures and said that it was working hard to reduce the number of hospital-acquired infections.
A spokesman said: "We note the findings of this report, which makes reference to MRSA and C.difficile on death certificates. This does not necessarily mean that they were the underlying cause of death.
"As a Trust, we are putting a great deal of effort into infection prevention and control. We have recorded a 25 per cent year-on-year reduction in MRSA cases and our MRSA rate per 10,000 bed days in 2006-07 was lower than the national average.
"In 2006-07 we were among Trusts with the lowest rates of C.difficile in the North West. Our 2007-08 figures were below the trajectory set by Government and were 24 per cent down on the previous year."
Recent hygiene initiatives include an ongoing CleanYourHands campaign that has seen more than 4,500 staff given additional handwashing training and the introduction of a bare below the elbows policy, designed to make it easier for staff to clean their hands properly.
Last year, the Trust secured a £550,000 grant from the Department of Health to support a specialist team of five senior nurses who help infection prevention staff.
- Rochdale Infirmary: C.difficile – 12 deaths; MRSA 19 deaths.
- Royal Oldham: C.difficile – 21 deaths; MRSA – 29 deaths.
- Fairfield: C.difficile – 26 deaths; MRSA – 15 deaths.
- North Manchester: C.difficile – 23 deaths; MRSA – 35 deaths.
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4/06/2008 at 13:58
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Medical staff should also be prevented from wearing uniform outside hospital premises, instead changing before each shift into newly cleaned uniform on site. That would stop any risk of contamination at home or en-route before they go into work.
10/06/2008 at 20:40