- Clean up the filthy wards. Crackdown ordered on dirty hospitals that put patients at risk. We are alarmed at drop in cleanliness, say nurses. Health Service negligence bill may top £2.4bn. Daily Mail, 6 April, 2000.
- Infections acquired in hospitals lead to the deaths of up to 5,000 patients in England each year and cost the National Health Service £1bn, a new report warned today. Guardian 23 November 2000.
- Dirty hospitals to be named
Guardian Society
Tuesday April 10, 2001
- Q&A: hospital cleanliness Guardian Society
Tuesday April 10, 2001
- Salmonella deaths hospital 'littered with clinical waste'. Kirsty
Scott Guardian
Unlimited Monday January 21, 2002
- Hospitals virus spreads from Scotland to Cornwall Wards closed across UK
as absence of winter flu outbreak focuses attention on high incidence of air
and food borne sickness. Guardian
Society Thursday January 24, 2002
- Superbug outbreak halts operations. Saturday
April 6, 2002 [Scotland]
- Laundry cuts pose health hazard John Carvel, social affairs editor Guardian
Thursday April 25, 2002
- 'Cynical' hospital chiefs blamed for poor hygiene. James Meikle,
health correspondent Guardian
Thursday May 16, 2002
- 1m patients 'suffer harm in NHS hospitals'. Anonymous reporting
study highlights problem. Sarah Boseley, health editor Wednesday
June 19, 2002 The Guardian
- One in 10 GP practices in England lacks basic standards such as sinks in
treatment rooms for doctors to wash their hands, according to a report today
from the audit commission, the NHS spending watchdog. John Carvel,
social affairs editor The
Guardian Tuesday July 9, 2002
- Fears about the spread of infections in dirty hospitals were compounded
today as new figures showed that the number of outbreaks of a sickness bug has
doubled in a year.
Sunday December 15, 2002 The Observer
- When hospital consultant Leyla Sanai became a patient herself, she was
shocked by the state of Britain's wards - and not in the least surprised to
catch a superbug.
Tuesday
January 21, 2003 The Guardian [Scotland, with adverse mention of
Birmingham and favourable mention of
Royal Free]
- I have been a general practitioner in the NHS for nearly 30 years and I
totally endorse the conclusions that Dr Leyla Sanai reaches (I was gobsmacked
by the filth, G2, January 21). Hygiene standards in all the hospitals I have
seen are appalling, having deteriorated over the last 20 years to a disgusting
state.
Letters Friday January 24, 2003 The Guardian
- New measures are to be introduced to deal with the threat from hospital
superbugs amid growing concern that thousands of patients are succumbing to
the drug-resistant infections each year. Jo Revill, health editor
Sunday May 18, 2003 The Observer
- The march of superbugs resistant to antibiotics might be moving out of
hospitals and into GPs' surgeries, a senior public health official has warned.
James Meikle
Monday August 11, 2003 The Guardian
- Ambulances are contaminated by bacteria to an "unacceptable" level, with
the potential to harm patients, a study carried out in Wales has found.
Thursday September 4, 2003
- Every NHS trust is to appoint a "bug-buster" tsar in a "call to arms"
against poor hygiene practices that have lead to the rise of deadly
infections, the Department of Health (DoH) announced today. The directors of
infection control will be responsible for imposing stringent rules to reduce
infections acquired in hospital, such as the fatal MRSA superbug. Roxanne
Escobales and agencies
Friday December 5, 2003
- Q&A: MRSA. NHS trusts will be appointing 'bug-busting' tsars to tackle
poor hygiene practices that have lead to the rise of deadly infections, such
as Methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus, more commonly known as MRSA,
and more commonly still as a superbug. The germ is spreading in hospitals,
killing patients and costing the NHS hundreds of millions of pounds. Derek
Brown and Roxanne Escobales explain more.
Friday December 5, 2003
- The government yesterday named and shamed hospital trusts where patients
were most at risk of catching one of the most feared superbugs as part of a
more aggressive campaign to reduce hospital-acquired infections in England.
James Meikle, health correspondent
Saturday December 6, 2003 The Guardian [Acute NHS trusts with the highest rates of MRSA per 1,000 bed days for 2002/03:
Lewisham Hospital 0.24,
Epsom & St Helier 0.24, Dartford & Gravesham 0.24, Queen Mary's Sidcup 0.25,
Countess of Chester Hospital
0.26,
East & North Hertfordshire 0.26, West Middlesex University 0.27, Barnet & Chase Farm Hospitals 0.28, Ealing Hospital 0.29, North Middlesex Hospital 0.30,
Weston Area Health 0.30
]
- As the superbugs munch their way through our last antibiotic defences, the
government now wants a top bureaucrat in each hospital to be in charge of
'infection control'. How pathetic. Towards the end of Cristina Odone
Sunday December 7, 2003 The Observer
- The deaths of 800 patients in England and Wales in 2002 have been linked
to the hospital superbug MRSA. The figure is double that of four years ago and
a 15-fold increase since 1993. James Meikle, health correspondent
Friday February 27, 2004 The Guardian
- Worried about MRSA? You should be. More of us are catching it, more of us
are dying from it, and now it seems children are the new victims. James Meikle
on the march of a killer bug
Tuesday March 23, 2004 The Guardian
- Poor hygiene and staff shortages are to blame for the rising number of
patients who contract hospital acquired infections, such as the superbug MRSA,
a survey of nurses warned today. Basic measures, such as washing hands, which
would stop the methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus bug spreading to
vulnerable patients were being neglected by hospital staff, according to the
poll by Which? magazine.
Thursday April 1, 2004
- Conventional cleaning has "little impact" in eliminating the so-called
superbug MRSA in hospitals, according to research published today. The
study at Guy's and St Thomas' hospital in
London found rooms occupied by
patients with MRSA (methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus) contaminated
with the infection after the walls had been mopped and the furniture cleaned.
Thursday April 22, 2004
- A dozen members of staff have been suspended at a NHS hospital food
manufacturer after a Channel 4 documentary exposed alleged breakdowns in
hygiene practices. The Dispatches programme, which used undercover footage
shot at a manufacturing plant owned by Tillery Valley Foods, was the subject
of an attempted high court injunction on Monday. The firm rushed to court
after Shine, the production company run by Rupert Murdoch's daughter
Elisabeth, refused to hand over footage shot at the plant by an undercover
Peruvian journalist. Mr Justice Mann refused the injunction and told Tillery
Valley it could "not assume you would get an easy ride" getting permission to
appeal. The documentary poked holes in the government's recent initiative to
improve the standards of hospital food, showing that many
"cook-chill-reconstitute" meals were nutritionally deficient. The footage shot
at Tillery Valley's Welsh plant showed an alleged breakdown in hygiene
standards, including evidence of the e-coli bacteria.
Friday May 14, 2004 Media Guardian (registration needed)
- As a report reveals a sixfold increase in MRSA cases, experts warn of a
new bug that drugs can't kill and of wholesale hygiene failures in hospitals.
Jamie Doward reports.
Sunday June 6, 2004 The Observer
- The drive to cut waiting lists by filling every hospital bed, together
with shortages of doctors and nurses, is partly responsible for the alarming
rise in the numbers of patients picking up infections, including the MRSA
superbug, on the wards, experts said yesterday. Sarah Boseley, health editor
Friday July 2, 2004 The Guardian
- Search parties are to be sent into hospitals unannounced every three
months to see if they are clean, the government will announce today. In the
latest attempt to cut down on the soaring rates of the hospital superbug MRSA,
Health Secretary John Reid is to send members of the public on to wards to
check up on their cleanliness. He will also announce that every hospital will
have a large noticeboard in one of its public spaces, showing its infection
rates, in a bid to shame trusts into tackling the problem. Jo Revill and Gaby
Hinsliff
Sunday July 11, 2004 The Observer
- Hospital patients should get specially-programmed bedside telephones so
that they or visitors can complain instantly to the cleaning services, the
health secretary, John Reid, said yesterday. James Meikle, health
correspondent
Monday July 12, 2004 The Guardian
- Government plans to tackle the spread of killer superbugs in hospitals
have been greeted with scepticism by patient groups and NHS staff. Some of the
proposals in the hygiene strategy, unveiled today by the health secretary,
John Reid, have been dismissed as gimmicks. The proposals that drew most
criticism included having an NHS think clean day, installing hotlines on
patients' bedsides so they could raise the alarm about dirty wards, and
encouraging patients to challenge staff over whether they have washed their
hands. David Batty and agencies
Monday July 12, 2004
- Hospitals were last night accused by parliamentary spending watchdogs of
"an appalling lack of progress" in tackling superbugs and other causes of
serious infection in patients. The government was said to be "all at sea on
the cost and extent" of the problems as Edward Leigh, Tory chairman of the
all-party Commons public accounts committee, suggested it was losing ground in
tackling the politically embarrassing threat to patient care. James Meikle,
health correspondent
Wednesday July 14, 2004 The Guardian
- Reports of the hospital superbug MRSA went up another 3.6% last year,
Department of Health (DoH) figures revealed today, with
Guy's and St Thomas's
trust showing the highest infection rate. Tash Shifrin
Wednesday July 14, 2004
- Scientists are urgently assessing the threat from new superbugs that are
wrecking antibiotic treatments for hundreds of patients and may have killed 28
people in
Shropshire in the year to March. Laboratories have reported a surge
in the number of urinary tract infections such as cystitis and cases of blood
poisoning caused by strains of the E coli bug resistant to most antibiotics.
The bugs, represented by an increasingly dreaded acronym ESBL, are not only
striking in hospitals, but also turning up in GP surgeries, and only one class
of antibiotic to which they have not developed resistance is available in
tablet form. James Meikle, health correspondent
Saturday July 17, 2004 The Guardian
- NHS targets disrupt
war against superbugs. We are even told to economise on handwash, say nurses.
Nurses are warning that their attempts to rid hospitals of superbugs such as
MRSA are being undermined by managers and doctors under pressure to treat as
many patients as possible to meet waiting list targets. Jo Revill
Sunday July 18, 2004 The Observer
- Most doctors do not believe that the government's attempts to tackle the
hospital superbug MRSA will succeed, according to a doctors' poll. A new poll,
conducted by www.Doctors.net.uk, has revealed that eight out of 10 doctors
doubt whether hospitals can be rid of the bug. Concern over MRSA has been
growing in recent weeks after a critical report by the National Audit Office
which blamed poor working practices and a continuing lack of cleanliness and
hygiene for rising infection rates.
Friday July 23, 2004
- Patients have been warned that their "clutter" is helping fuel the growth
of the hospital superbug MRSA. The British Cleaning Council says luggage and
belongings, plus the sheer number of visitors at each bed, is making wards
harder to clean. It says this leads to "slip-shod" hygiene standards in
hospitals. The BCC called for measures such as set visiting times and
restrictions on how much patients can bring in to hospitals to be introduced.
BBC NEWS 26 July 2004
- Q&A: MRSA. John Reid has announced new measures to tackle poor hygiene
practices that have lead to the rise of deadly infections, such as methicillin
resistant staphylococcus aureus, more commonly known as MRSA, and more
commonly still as a superbug. The germ is spreading in hospitals, killing
patients and costing the NHS hundreds of millions of pounds. Derek Brown,
Roxanne Escobales and Alice Wilby explain more.
Monday
August 2, 2004
- There is little proof that the government's remedies for controlling the
spread of the MRSA superbug actually work, researchers warned today. The main
measures currently used to slow progress of the disease range from ensuring
better hand hygiene among health workers to restricting the use of antibiotics
and finding and isolating infected patients. But a review of past studies,
published in the British Medical Journal, found "major weaknesses" in research
into the effectiveness of isolation measures. Despite this, the researchers said
it did not mean these efforts did not work in reality, and isolation should
continue to be used until further research found otherwise.
Friday September 3, 2004
- A FORMER Newton woman plans to take action because she believes it was the
deadly hospital super-bug MRSA that killed her husband. John Cochrane, 38, was
admitted to Glenfield Hospital in
Leicester for a heart bypass on July 30.
Rugby Advertiser 09 September 2004
- More health professionals are becoming infected with hepatitis after being
injured by needles at work, experts said today. The Health Protection Agency
said that in the last year, six healthcare workers were infected with hepatitis
C during the course of their work in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. This
compared with just three cases in total during the previous five years, all due
to so-called needlestick injuries.
Wednesday September 15, 2004
- Patients should take the initiative to defend themselves against the medical
errors that are causing 40,000 preventable deaths a year, an NHS manager said
yesterday. They should challenge doctors or nurses who exam them without first
washing their hands, according to Stephen Thornton, the chief executive of the
Health Foundation and former leader of the NHS employers' body. And they should
question any healthcare assistant who provided medication of an unfamiliar
colour or texture without giving a clear explanation why the prescription had
changed. He said the best estimate of the number of adverse incidents in English
hospitals suggested that 800,000 patients suffered the consequences of
infection, mistakes or negligence every year; about 10% of all those treated.
There were 40,000 preventable deaths as a result of breakdowns in patient
safety. John Carvel, social affairs editor
Wednesday
September 29, 2004 The Guardian
- The health secretary, John Reid, today announced the end of "cut price" NHS
cleaning by private contractors as part of measures to improve cleanliness and
reduce rates of MRSA. Mr Reid announced the decision to bring cleaning back into
the NHS as part his speech to the Labour party conference on NHS achievements
secured under New Labour's second term. Hélène Mulholland in Brighton
Wednesday September 29, 2004
- Hospitals need a good scrub. Modern-day nurses should have old-style mentors
to teach them the basics of hygiene. Claire Rayner
Monday
October 11, 2004 The Guardian
- John Reid, the health secretary, yesterday appointed a new chief nursing
officer for England and gave her responsibility for stepping up the drive
against the hospital superbug MRSA. After 32 years in nursing, Chris Beasley,
interim head of the NHS modernisation agency, took over as head of the
profession with a seat on the health department's top board. She will spearhead
the introduction of a "matron's charter" to improve hygiene standards. John
Carvel and Michael White
Wednesday
October 20, 2004 The Guardian
- The government has made tackling hospital superbugs the top priority of the
new chief nursing officer. It's going to take more than one person to make an
impact on the problem, says Peter Davies.
Wednesday October 20, 2004
- Hundreds of contract cleaners at a hospital with one of England's worst
rates of infection from the MRSA superbug are to stage a one-day strike next
month, unions said today. Employers Initial Hospital Services met the Unison
union officials yesterday to present a new pay offer for about 300 workers at
Heartlands hospital in
Birmingham. A meeting of 100 staff last night unanimously
rejected the employer's latest offer. Staff voted 96% in favour of industrial
action in a ballot in June. The cleaners and porters currently earn the national
minimum wage of £4.85 an hour. They want the same hourly rate as their
counterparts employed "in-house" by the NHS at Heartlands' sister hospital in
Solihull, which pays £5.63. David Crouch and agencies
Friday October 22, 2004
- An undercover television investigation, which produced evidence that some
NHS hospitals have poor hygiene practices, is "very worrying" according to a
consumer body for patients. Producers of the documentary, to be shown on ITV1
this evening, sent a microbiologist to take swabs at six hospitals and found
antibiotic-resistant bugs in public areas used by patients in all of them.
Herpreet Kaur Grewal and agencies
Monday October 25, 2004
- Dirt detectives may be sent into hospitals incognito to make spot checks on
cleanliness, under plans being considered by the government to combat the MRSA
superbug infection. Christine Beasley, the chief nursing officer for England,
told a conference in Manchester that they could pose as visitors and arrive
unannounced in wards to report back on hygiene control. John Carvel
Friday
November 5, 2004 The Guardian
- The health secretary, John Reid, has unveiled plans to halve the most
serious cases of the hospital superbug MRSA amongst hospital patients by 2008.
Katherine Demopoulos
Friday November 5, 2004
- Hospitals must halve the rate of "superbug" infections by 2008, the health
secretary, John Reid, said yesterday, setting what he admitted was an "extremely
challenging" target. Methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) are
bacteria against which standard antibiotics, such as methicillin, are no longer
effective. There were 7,467 MRSA bloodstream infections in England last year,
3.6% up on the year before. While harmless to healthy people, it can kill
somebody with a compromised immune system. Sarah Boseley
Saturday
November 6, 2004 The Guardian
- The humble mop and bucket with the lingering smell of disinfectant are as
traditional a part of hospitals as doctors, nurses and patients. But they have
become consigned to the history books at five Yorkshire hospitals in an effort
to combat superbugs such as MRSA. Domestic staff in the
Airedale NHS Trust
hospitals are now equipped with special microfibre mops, cloths and trolleys
which reduce the physical effort needed yet remove much more dirt. Helen Carter
Friday
November 26, 2004 The Guardian
- Scientists have identified three medical products and equipment which they
think could help in the fight against the hospital superbug MRSA, the health
secretary, John Reid, announced today. Debbie Andalo
Wednesday December 1, 2004
- The government today admitted that its drive to improve hospital cleanliness
in the battle against superbugs was more to do with public perception than
available scientific evidence. Health minister Lord Warner said there was "no
silver bullet" to combat MRSA rates, conceding that the government's efforts to
link cleanliness to infection rates was primarily a move to raise public
confidence. Hélène Mulholland
Tuesday December 7, 2004
- Hospital superbugs: the worst performers. The government today set out new
guidelines for tackling hospital acquired infections including the MRSA superbug.
It also published inspection results, which found that half of the 1,184
hospitals in England checked were rated "acceptable". A further 27 were classed
as "poor" or "unacceptable".
Tuesday December 7, 2004
- Patients today rounded on government claims that there is no scientific link
between superbugs and the dirty state of some NHS hospitals. Hélène Mulholland
Tuesday December 7, 2004
- Fewer than half the hospitals in England have good or excellent cleanliness
ratings, the health minister Lord Warner said yesterday as he revealed measures
to tackle superbugs. Just three, all mental health units, were judged
"unacceptable", but a further 24 were "poor", according to spot checks by teams
including local health officials and patient representatives. The figures for
1,184 hospitals were published as the Department of Health issued guidance on
tackling super-bugs, of which the most notorious, MRSA, is blamed for 5,000
deaths a year. Lord Warner said some NHS trusts might want to renegotiate
cleaning contracts because of shortcomings. James Meikle, health correspondent
Wednesday
December 8, 2004 The Guardian
- A British scientist has developed a test to identify different strains of
the MRSA superbug, which should allow hospitals to halt the spread of the
infection, it was announced today. The genetic test devised by Professor Peter
Hawkey, honorary consultant microbiologist at Birmingham heartlands hospital,
can identify many different types of MRSA, which affects thousands of hospital
patients each year. This should enable hospitals to trace the source of an
outbreak. David Batty and agencies
Wednesday December 15, 2004
- Isolating intensive care patients infected with MRSA does not appear to
reduce cross-infection, according to a study published in the Lancet. James
Meikle
Friday January 7, 2005 The Guardian
- The scale of the reduction of cleaning staff gives firm backing to the
widespread belief that wards have become dirtier and less safe. The figures,
compiled by Unison, the public service union, showed that there were 55,000
hospital cleaners, either NHS employees or working in the hospitals for private
cleaning contractors, last year. In 1984, there were more than 100,000.Jo
Revill, health editor
Sunday
January 9, 2005 The Observer
- 'The ward where I caught the bug was filthy. I could have died.' Union
leader Dave Prentis reveals his experience of NHS cleaning cuts. Jo Revill,
health editor
Sunday
January 9, 2005 The Observer
- Too many people have horror stories to tell about MRSA, the superbug unheard
of 10 years ago but now spreading fear in hospitals across the country. Around
100,000 patients last year were infected by this virulent organism; an estimated
5,000 died. Some blame can be laid at the door of politicians who privatised NHS
cleaning services with the cheapest possible contracts in the 1980s. Conditions
became much worse for the army of once-loyal cleaning staff who were suddenly no
part of the NHS family. Leader
Sunday
January 9, 2005 The Observer
- The spread of the MRSA hospital superbug is blamed today on a 45% cut in
cleaning staff since the NHS allowed the private sector to compete for the work.
John Carvel
Monday January 10, 2005 The Guardian
- New guidelines are being drawn up today by the Department of Health and NHS
trusts in a bid to halt the spread of deadly superbugs. Improving clinical
protocols for dressing wounds in hospital and moving patients potentially at
risk of infection are to be included in the proposals expected to be approved
for immediate adoption by staff and hospitals. Debbie Andalo and agencies
Thursday January 20, 2005
- Overstretched hospital cleaning staff are being forced to clean as many as
four wards in just one hour, according to a report published today. The Unison
report, published today to coincide with its conference on hospital cleaning,
reveals the legacy of cutting back the number of cleaners over the past two
decades, at a time when concern over the rates of hospital acquired infections
is at an all-time high. It backs a previous Unison report published earlier this
month which blames the spread of the MRSA hospital superbug on a 45% cut in
cleaning staff since the NHS allowed the private sector to compete for the work
in the 1980s. Hélène Mulholland
Wednesday January 26, 2005
- An expert on hospital superbugs today attacked the government for claiming
there is little evidence that cleanliness affects the rate at which they spread.
Dr Stephanie Dancer, a consultant medical microbiologist who has studied
hospital acquired infections such as the MRSA virus for almost 20 years,
supported claims made by the public service union Unison that the decline in
hospital cleaning staff numbers had led to an increase in infections. Helene
Mulholland
Wednesday January 26, 2005
- Row erupts over secret filming of hospital filth. Health bosses claim
that patients were 'put at risk' by nurses who captured appalling conditions for
a shocking Channel 4 documentary. Jamie Doward, social affairs editor
Sunday
January 30, 2005 The Observer
- What really bugs NHS patients: the dirt. A 'lively' public meeting in
Enfield changed government thinking on hospitals. Sarah Boseley and John Carvel
Monday February 7, 2005 The Guardian
- Joy Vokes-Moody I've just had a mastectomy and they dealt with me
wonderfully. I was only in the hospital for a few days in the new wing and the
staff worked very hard and were very caring. The food wasn't wonderful though
and the downside was that the cleaners need much more training. I did my own
cleaning. A lot of patients had wipes so we could wipe everything down.
Monday February 7, 2005 The Guardian
- The prevalence of the most contagious types of hospital superbug in the UK
has led to epidemic infection levels, a scientist warned today. More than 95% of
UK patients who contract hospital superbugs are infected with the two most
virulent strains of MRSA, which are uncommon in other countries, according to
Mark Enright, of the University of Bath. Dr Enright warned that government
initiatives to reduce hospital superbugs, such as more frequent handwashing by
doctors and nurses, were insufficient to control the problem given the unusually
high prevalence of MRSA strains 15 and 16 in the UK. The scientist, an expert in
the evolution of MRSA, said only by screening all patients and isolating those
with these types of the superbug would rates of infection fall significantly.
David Batty
Thursday February 10, 2005
- Researchers today warned that over-use of antibiotics is boosting rates of
infection by drug resistant bugs in southern and eastern Europe. The results of
their study suggest that the time has come to consider whether it is ethical to
promote antibiotics in cases where they are unnecessary, they said.
Friday February 11, 2005
- The number of deaths from the hospital superbug MRSA doubled over the four
years to 2003, but stayed well below estimates used in parliamentary debates,
the Office for National Statistics said yesterday. John Carvel, social affairs
editor
Friday February 25, 2005 The Guardian
- Today has been declared "think clean day" in the National Health Service.
The purpose is to raise the importance of hygiene in hospitals. However, one of
the new obstacles to achieving this urgently needed goal is that the most
virulent hospital bug - MRSA (methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus) - has
infected politics too. Leader
Monday
February 28, 2005 The Guardian
- Bill Hanage discovers why Holland has virtually no MRSA.
Thursday March 3, 2005 The Guardian
- The health secretary, John Reid, moved last night to check growing public
concern over rates of MRSA infection in Britain's hospital system when he
revealed that reforms introduced by the government are taking effect - and the
rates are falling. Michael White, political editor
Monday
March 7, 2005 The Guardian
- A foundation trust which topped the league table for rates of MRSA infection
has attacked the figures as "misleading" claiming they "grossly misrepresent"
the hospital's infection control record. Specialist hospital Queen Victoria
hospital NHS trust in West
Sussex was listed as the hospital with the worst
prevalence rate in the country for MRSA infections, in figures published today
on the Department of Health website. Hélène Mulholland
Monday March 7, 2005
- The government was yesterday celebrating an apparent downturn in the figures
for MRSA infection in hospitals, which have dropped by 6% in the last six months
by comparison with the same period last year. But opposition critics claimed the
figures - published for six months rather than 12 as has been the norm - gave a
misleading impression, and it is clear that good progress on fighting hospital
acquired infection in
London is not matched in all parts of the country. League
tables, published on the government website, revealed widely varying rates of
infections at different hospitals. Sarah Boseley, health editor
Tuesday
March 8, 2005 The Guardian
- 'Worst' hospitals cry foul at infection figures. Sarah Boseley, health
editor
Tuesday March 8, 2005 The Guardian
- Nurses are being hampered in their efforts to combat hospital superbugs by a
lack of resources, according to a survey published today. Though the infection
control role of nurses is lauded as one of the best ways of limiting the spread
of infections, frontline professionals complain their efforts are being thwarted
by poor access to cleaning services and a lack of facilities to keep their
uniforms clean. Hélène Mulholland
Tuesday March 8, 2005
- MRSA: the issue explained. Politicians have put MRSA centre stage but,
despite the renewed attention, official figures show the battle against the
superbug is far from won. By David Batty and Debbie Andalo.
Tuesday
March 22, 2005
- The sudden death of a healthy two-day-old baby because of MRSA was a
complete mystery, experts said last night, as the distressed family of Luke Day
lashed out at the NHS. Sarah Boseley, health editor
Wednesday
March 23, 2005 The Guardian
- More infant MRSA deaths under Labour, figures reveal. David Batty
Thursday March 24, 2005
- Our hospital has recently won awards for its cleanliness (that which is
observable) and already has matrons. Yet we came second to bottom in the current
hospital MRSA league tables (Superbug kills a baby, March 23). So the ranting by
politicians and media for "cleaner hospitals" and "more matrons" shows a lack of
understanding of the complex nature of the MRSA problem. Hospitals working at
100% capacity, with rapid throughputs of ever sicker patients, coupled with
other major changes in the way in which the NHS runs, are integral elements of
the problem. I am sick and tired of the banal level of public comment on the
issue. Dr William Notcutt James Paget hospital Great Yarmouth, Norfolk.
Saturday March 26, 2005 The Guardian
- The attempt to win votes is taking precedence over combating the spread of
the hospital superbug MRSA, it was claimed today. Politicians have seized on
public fears about the health implications of unclean hospitals but have failed
to address the real problem, of the unclean hands of hospital staff, according
to the editorial this morning in the medical journal the Lancet. Debbie Andalo
and agencies
Friday
April 1, 2005
- The government's independent health regulator will today spell out how the
battle against the hospital superbug MRSA can be won. The chief executive of the
Healthcare Commission, Anna Walker, is due to describe the steps the watchdog is
taking to monitor the government's new target to reduce by half the number of
MRSA bloodstream infections in hospitals by 2008 at the two-day Clean Hospitals
Summit in London. Debbie Andalo and agencies
Thursday
April 14, 2005
- The government's target of cutting the number of MRSA infections in half by
2008 is probably unachievable, a leading expert said today. However, more
handwashing by NHS staff and cleaner hospital wards might have a "significant
impact" on the number of cases of the hospital superbug, microbiologist Dr Mark
Enright told the Cleaner Hospitals summit in London. Debbie Andalo
Thursday
April 14, 2005
- The government cannot achieve its target of halving MRSA infections in
hospitals by 2008 without breaking its promise to reduce NHS waiting times, a
leading authority on hospital acquired infection said yesterday. John Carvel,
social affairs editor
Friday
April 15, 2005 The Guardian
- The government's pledge to cut infection rates for the hospital superbug
MRSA can only be met if it accepts longer waiting lists, says Mark Enright.
Tuesday
April 19, 2005
- Germ warfare. The story of the superbug provides topical content across the
curriculum, writes Judith Kneen,
Tuesday April 26, 2005 The Guardian
- The next government must provide more uniforms for nurses and 24-hour
cleaning teams in all acute hospitals if it is to successfully tackle MRSA,
healthcare unions said today. A joint campaign by the Royal College of Nursing
and the Infection Control Nurses' Association (ICNA) was launched as nurses
sought to capitalise on the political momentum gathering on health ahead of the
general election next week. Hélène Mulholland
Tuesday
April 26, 2005
- The MRSA superbug is being allowed to spread because most hospitals fail to
provide nurses with enough clean uniforms, the Royal College of Nursing said
yesterday at its annual conference in Harrogate. John Carvel, social affairs
editor
Wednesday April 27, 2005 The Guardian
- More than 700 hospital patients have been warned to look out for the
symptoms of tuberculosis after a healthcare worker was diagnosed with the
disease. The patients were treated on an orthopaedic ward at the Lister
hospital,
Stevenage, between January and April this year when the health worker
was present. Debbie Andalo
Wednesday May 11, 2005
- Hospitals could get food factory hygiene standards. John Carvel, social
affairs editor
Saturday
May 14, 2005 The Guardian
- Hospital managers could face criminal charges if patients catch superbugs on
dirty wards, the new health secretary, Patricia Hewitt, has warned. Hélène
Mulholland and agencies
Monday May
16, 2005
- NHS managers could face criminal prosecution for failing to strengthen
hospital hygiene controls to combat the superbug MRSA, Patricia Hewitt, the
health secretary, told MPs yesterday. John Carvel, social affairs editor
Wednesday
May 25, 2005 The Guardian
- European red tape is impeding research into new hygiene measures to combat
hospital superbugs, including MRSA, it was claimed today. Researchers at the
University of Manchester said European Union regulations were holding up
clinical trials to test the effectiveness of three essential oils, usually used
in aromatherapy, in tackling superbugs. The team tested 40 essential oils on 10
of the most dangerous bacteria and fungi including MRSA (methicillin-resistant
staphylococcus aureus) and E coli. Two of the oils killed the bugs almost
immediately, and a third was found to have a beneficial effect over a longer
period of time. Researchers now want to carry out trials on healthy volunteers
who are carrying MRSA but are not infected by it. It is estimated that between
20% and 40% of people in the UK carry MRSA, mostly in their noses or on their
skin, without any ill effects.
Friday May
27, 2005
- Q&A: MRSA. Superbugs - including MRSA - cost the NHS £1bn a year and though
most cases are reported in hospitals they can be caught anywhere. What are these
infections, and what can be done to halt their spread? David Batty explains.
Friday May
27, 2005
- Health officials are launching a check on the incidence of the MRSA superbug
in children, because they believe the present figures underestimate the true
scale of the problem. James Meikle, health correspondent
Saturday
May 28, 2005 The Guardian
- A hospital trust is considering removing Bibles from patients' bedsides for
fear that they may be spreading the superbug MRSA, it emerged today. The
University Hospitals of
Leicester NHS trust is meeting on Friday to discuss the
health risks from copies of Gideon Bibles provided in patient lockers in
Leicester's three main hospitals.
Thursday
June 2, 2005
- Leicester hospitals were struggling to escape a public relations disaster
last night after the trust's chaplain stalled a request from Gideons
International to be allowed to replace patients' bedside Bibles. John Carvel,
social affairs editor
Saturday
June 4, 2005 The Guardian
- A new strain of a hospital-acquired infection has claimed 12 lives at the
specialist Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Buckinghamshire and infected more than
300, the Department of Health confirmed last night. The outbreak of the bug,
Clostridium difficile, dates from 2003. It causes diarrhoea in patients and has
been added to the department's mandatory surveillance system which also
scrutinises the development of the so-called hospital superbug MRSA. Rob Booth
Monday June
6, 2005 The Guardian
- Drastic measures to tackle the spread of hospital superbugs will see
patients being screened for MRSA before they are admitted and visiting hours
slashed. The moves by hospital trusts follow a long struggle with the infection
- heightened last week by fears over outbreaks of a second bug, Clostridium
difficile - which has undermined public confidence in hospitals. Patients are
now more scared of catching an infection than of going under the knife,
according to a survey of hospital chief executives released by the NHS
Confederation, even though surgery is statistically more risky. Gaby Hinsliff,
political editor
Sunday
June 12, 2005 The Observer
- Patricia Hewitt, the health secretary, called on the health inspectorate
yesterday to mount an independent inquiry into the spread of a virulent
infection that has claimed 12 lives at Stoke Mandeville hospital in
Buckinghamshire. The bacterium, Clostridium difficile, has infected 300 patients
at the hospital over the past 18 months. Alarm bells rang when it developed a
more lethal strain, producing toxins causing severe diarrhoea that can be fatal
for the very elderly or frail. John Carvel, social affairs editor
Wednesday
June 15, 2005 The Guardian
- Hospital superbugs have prospered because the NHS took its eye off the ball,
according to the chief nursing officer, Chris Beasley. Ms Beasley attributed the
scale of hospital-acquired infections to a previous complacency on infection
control by clinicians and the public alike. Hélène Mulholland in Birmingham
Friday
June 17, 2005
- Health inspectors announced a "blitz on hospital cleanliness" last night in
response to mounting public alarm about the spread of the MRSA superbug and lack
of basic hygiene in many wards and casualty departments. For the first time,
they will mount random spot checks on 100 hospitals in England over the summer
to check whether hospitals are meeting the recommended standards of hygiene.
John Carvel, social affairs editor
Monday June
20, 2005 The Guardian
- A national inquiry into the new strain of the hospital superbug Clostridium
difficile, which has contributed to 25 known deaths, is being launched by the
Healthcare Commission, the agency confirmed today. The commission has decided to
extend the remit of its original inquiry into the superbug announced last week,
which was focused on Stoke Mandeville hospital in
Buckinghamshire where more
than 300 patients have been infected, resulting in 12 patient deaths since 2003.
The decision follows the announcement yesterday that 265 patients at another
hospital, the Royal Devon and Exeter in Devon, have been infected with
Clostridium difficile, which was a contributing factor in 13 patient deaths.
Debbie Andalo and David Batty
Thursday
June 23, 2005
- The government was yesterday accused by a powerful committee of MPs of
failing to tackle the crisis in hospital-acquired infections, of which the "superbug"
MRSA is just a small part. The public accounts committee, which monitors
government spending, said little had been done since its investigation four
years ago. Sarah Boseley, health editor
Thursday
June 23, 2005 The Guardian
- More than a quarter of hospital patients with MRSA could be picking up the
superbug in the community, according to unpublished data. Hélène Mulholland
Tuesday
June 28, 2005
- Fifteen hospitals have been hit by outbreaks of the new strain of the
hospital superbug Clostridium difficile which has so far contributed to 25
deaths, ministers have admitted. So far there have been 75 cases confirmed by
scientists at the specialist laboratory in Cardiff - the only one in the UK
equipped to analysis the new strain - health minister Jane Kennedy said
yesterday. The statistics reveal the outbreak of the new strain, which last week
was confirmed at a second hospital in the UK, is much wider than originally
believed. Hospitals where the strain has appeared are in:
Preston,
Birmingham,
Winchester,
Bristol,
Romford, Southampton,
Truro, Carshalton,
High Wycombe,
South Tyneside, Newcastle,
South Tees, Sunderland, Stoke Mandeville and Exeter.
Debbie Andalo
Thursday
June 30, 2005
- Ministers have backed off from a threat to prosecute hospital managers who
fail to ensure that staff follow a legally binding code designed to stop the
spread of superbugs. They said there would be false expectations about how and
when criminal sanctions could be applied, and a new criminal offence would have
to be created, accompanied by financial penalties that would take money away
from patient care. Hospitals might also be tempted not to disclose relevant
information to inspectors. James Meikle, health correspondent
Friday July 15, 2005 The Guardian
- British vaccine firm Acambis is starting trials of a jab that should prevent
infections from a new strain of superbug that has spread to 15 hospitals in the
UK and killed at least a dozen people. The company has begun phase one trials of
a vaccine against Clostridium difficile, a bug that has caused 12 deaths at
Stoke Mandeville hospital in Oxfordshire [Buckinghamshire] in the past 18 months. Heather
Tomlinson
Wednesday July 27, 2005 The Guardian
- The NHS watchdog is failing to provide patients with an accurate picture of
hospital hygiene and superbug rates, consumer groups and doctors' leaders said
today. The Consumers Association, the Patients Association and the British
Medical Association (BMA) branded the Healthcare Commission's latest assessment
of hospital cleanliness and MRSA infections as worthless and unambitious. David
Batty
Wednesday July 27, 2005
- The Prime Minister has apologised to a mother whose son contracted MRSA on
an NHS ward, and revealed that hospitals are working on a two-hour detection
test for the superbug. Jo Revill, health editor
Sunday
August 14, 2005 The Observer
- A British professor believes he has found a new antibiotic that could combat
the MRSA superbug and is trying to raise £5m to fund its development. The battle
against bacteria once looked as if it had been won, but the recent emergence of
new bugs that cannot be treated with conventional antibiotics has rekindled
interest in the area. Heather Tomlinson
Tuesday August 16, 2005 The Guardian
- Killers spawned by drugs that saved millions. Antibiotic overuse creates
nightmare for frail and elderly in Britain's hospitals. Sarah Boseley, health
editor
Saturday August 27, 2005 The Guardian
- The Department of Health revealed yesterday that there had been almost
45,000 cases of a virulent bug last year, killing nearly three times as many
patients as MRSA. The hospital-acquired bacterium Clostridium difficile was
found to be the cause of death in 934 people, most of whom were old and frail.
John Carvel, social affairs editor
Saturday
August 27, 2005 The Guardian
- Scientists have developed a drug that destroys the defences of superbugs,
raising hopes it could help quell the rampant and often lethal outbreaks that
continue to strike hospitals. Chemists made synthetic versions of a class of
drug called cephalosporin and found they killed a rare but highly dangerous
variant of MRSA that is resistant not only to common antibiotics but also to
vancomycin, which is considered the last line of defence against MRSA
infections.
Tuesday August 30, 2005 The Guardian
- Ambulances could spread superbugs such as MRSA because staff lack the time
and cleaning equipment to decontaminate their vehicles properly, according to
research published today. The government's failure to tackle ambulance
cleanliness was a major flaw in its infection control policy, according to the
largest public services union, Unison. A survey by the union on ambulance
cleaning practices across the UK found that some crews are still responsible for
cleaning their own vehicles - meaning that decontamination was not carried out
on a regular basis.
Monday September 5, 2005
- A quarter of serious cases of MRSA in hospitals are found in patients who
have just arrived from the community, researchers said today. The figures tally
with unpublished figures collected by the University hospital Birmingham NHS
trust, which earlier this summer found 28% of patients with MRSA had the
infection before being admitted to hospital. In both cases, the majority of
affected patients had been hospitalised before over the past 12 months. Hélène
Mulholland and agencies
Friday
September 9, 2005
- Hospital managers could be sacked if they fail to combat superbugs such as
MRSA, under legislation unveiled today. The health bill will place a statutory
duty on the NHS to comply with a new code of practice to tackle
healthcare-associated infections and improve hygiene. NHS watchdog the
Healthcare Commission will be given the power to impose sanctions on NHS trusts
that fail to meet the hygiene standards. Serious breaches of the code could
result in chief executives being sacked.
Thursday
October 27, 2005
- Thames Valley University (TVU) is to lead research into hospital superbugs
under a healthcare research contract from the Department of Health. The
university's Richard Wells centre is to establish and direct a new national
healthcare-associated infection (HCAI) research network, managing work on
prevention and control of these infections in the National Health Service on a
three year contract. The prevalence of superbugs, such as methicillin-resistant
staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), has hardly declined in hospitals in England over
the last decade. Although not all of these infections can be avoided, it is
estimated that up to one third can be prevented. Robert Pratt, the director of
the Richard Wells research centre, said: "Almost one in every 10 patients
develops a new infection when they are cared for in hospital. These new
infections, which are often difficult to treat, frequently worsen the patient's
original complaint and can cause serious disability and death. What's more,
these infections are expensive, costing the NHS £1bn each year.
Wednesday November 30, 2005
- A snap inspection of hospitals found many were unacceptably dirty, including
one where investigators discovered stains from bodily fluids left on a hoist
chair, a report said yesterday. It concluded that most hospitals were not as
clean as they should be and it was especially critical of some NHS mental health
hospitals. The Healthcare Commission sent inspectors into 98 hospitals around
the country without warning to look at the dirt, dust, decor and state of the
toilets. While 33 did well, "too many hospitals failed to perform as well as
they could", the commission said in its report yesterday, and in 22 there was
"clear evidence of poor standards of cleanliness", which suggested systemic
problems. Sarah Boseley, health editor
Thursday December 15, 2005 The Guardian
- Hospitals are failing to follow rules to control a killer bug which has been
linked to three times as many deaths as MRSA. Health watchdogs have found that
NHS managers in England are failing to isolate patients struck by the virulent
bug, Clostridium difficile, a bacterium responsible for 934 deaths among 44,500
patients infected by it last year. But some hospital trusts say they do not have
suitable bedspace to cope with a problem which most believe is getting worse.
Dozens of hospitals - about a quarter in England - had to close wards in the
last 12 months because of outbreaks. James Meikle, health correspondent
Wednesday December 21, 2005 The Guardian
- MRSA "hit squads" are to be sent into 20 hospital trusts that are failing to
reduce the number of patients infected by the potentially lethal superbug, the
government announced today. The move came as new figures showed the NHS is
failing to halt MRSA infections, with 3,580 cases of the most serious type of
MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) recorded between April and
September last year. There were a total of 7,269 cases of bloodstream MRSA
infection between October 2004 and September 2005. David Batty, health
correspondent
Monday
February 6, 2006
[worst are
Sandwell,
Northumbria and
Aintree]
- The number of deaths related to MRSA, the so-called hospital superbug,
increased by almost a quarter, according to the latest figures. MRSA is now six
times more likely to be a factor in the deaths of people in NHS hospitals than
anywhere else, the Office for National Statistics said yesterday. Polly
Curtis, health correspondent
Friday
February 24, 2006 The Guardian
- Nearly 40% of NHS staff do not have constant access to the hot water, soap,
paper towels and alcohol rubs needed to prevent the spread of the MRSA superbug,
the health inspectorate warned last night. The problem emerged in the Healthcare
Commission's annual survey, published today, based on replies from 209,000
employees in 570 NHS trusts in England. One in four said trusts did not do
enough to promote the importance of hand-cleaning to staff, patients and
visitors. John Carvel, social affairs editor
Wednesday
March 22, 2006 The Guardian
- Missing the
targets. Out of 26 of the Government's key health
targets, 12 have been revealed as having little prospect of being met by
the intended date of 2008 unless urgent remedial action is taken. These are:
Improving diagnostics - choice of CT or MRI scan; waiting times for cancer
treatment; halving MRSA
rates; "Patient
choice", the promise of a choice of hospital, including the option of
going private, for certain procedures if waiting time targets are exceeded;
choose-and-book system in GPs surgeries for hospital appointments; reducing
inequalities in infant mortality rates; reducing inequalities in infant
mortality rates;
[public health] cutting smoking rates in poorer households; reducing
inequalities in life expectancy; cutting teenage pregnancy rates; cutting
childhood obesity rates; improving access to genito-urinary clinics; meeting
the financial forecast -
spending targets.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of Times 25 April 2006
- The government has been forced to warn
14
countries that patients are in danger of developing the human form of mad
cow disease as a result of
contaminated British blood products sold abroad. James Meikle and Rob Evans
Tuesday May
2, 2006 The Guardian
- Patients undergoing routine dental
treatments for root canal problems may have been
exposed to infection by the
human form of BSE because instruments have been previously used on patients
unwittingly carrying the incurable disease, government scientific advisers said
yesterday. About 3m such treatments are conducted every year in England and
Wales alone. The scientists have told health ministers to consider banning the
reuse of the equipment needed because of "hypothetical but plausible scenarios"
which suggest that person-to person cases of variant CJD might follow the
shrinking number of animal-to-human cases. James Meikle
Tuesday
May 9, 2006 The Guardian
- NHS Hospitals are
getting dirtier despite promises claim patients. Standards of cleanliness in
hospitals are falling despite Government promises to tackle dirty wards,
according to the annual NHS patients' survey. The huge survey of 80,000 people
found high levels of general satisfaction with the health service but only 52%
of patients said their ward had been "very clean" last year compared with 56% in
2002. A spokesman for the Patients Association said the findings on cleanliness
came as no surprise: "It echoes what we have been hearing from staff, that
cleaning services are being cut, cut, and cut. When trusts face deficits they
always cut from the bottom. Porters and cleaners are the first to go."
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of
Telegraph 26 May 2006
- Five hospital patients have died as a result of contracting a highly
infectious diarrhoea bug. The five pensioners contracted the bug Clostridium
Difficile at Maidstone Hospital in Kent. Press Association
Friday
June 30, 2006 10:33 PM
- Senior hospital managers were condemned today for failing to tackle repeat
outbreaks of a deadly stomach
bug, that killed at least 65 people and infected several hundred. The bosses
of Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Aylesbury,
Buckinghamshire, were censured by NHS inspectorate, the Healthcare
Commission, for prioritising
political targets, such as reducing waiting times over patient safety. There
were 174 cases of the potentially fatal bug Clostridium difficile in the first
outbreak at the hospital between October 2003 and June 2004, and another 160
cases in the second between October 2004 and June 2005. Of the 38 patients who
died in the outbreaks, 33 definitely contracted the infection after being
admitted to the hospital. But the Healthcare Commission found that over three
years a total of 65 deaths at the hospital were linked to the C-bug. In a
damning report the infection definitely or probably killed 41 patients and
contributed to the deaths of another 24. The report came as it emerged there was
a 17.2% increase in cases of Clostridium difficile in hospitals throughout
England last year. The Health Protection Agency, the national body responsible
for tackling infectious diseases, found there were 51,690 cases in 2005, up from
44,107 in 2004. David Batty
Monday
July 24, 2006 Guardian Unlimited
- NHS targets
blamed as crowded wards increase risk of superbugs. An official report by
the Department of Health has shown a direct link between ward occupancy rates
and MRSA rates in a
document so sensitive that access under the Freedom of Information Act was twice
refused. The report from the Health Care Commission, commissioned by Patricia
Hewitt, found an increase in the level of crowding from 2001-02 to 2002-03 and
concluded that "these increases…are sufficient to explain the observed growth in
MRSA between those two years". Ministers had refuted earlier claims by the
Public Accounts Committee that "conflicts with
other key targets and priorities" were harming NHS efforts to tackle
hospital infections. However the HCC's findings further suggest that targets are
pressuring hospitals into overcrowding and therefore spreading MRSA. The report
says that by restricting wards' bed occupancy to 85%, 1,000 cases of MRSA a year
could be avoided.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of Independent 24 July 2006
-
At
least 41 pensioners were killed by a hospital
superbug in the squalid
wards of
Stoke Mandeville because senior executives ignored the dangers and
concentrated on delivering the government's waiting time
targets, health inspectors warned yesterday. Even after a public outcry
prompted an investigation by the Healthcare Commission, the renowned hospital in
Aylesbury failed to introduce basic measures of infection control. Earlier this
year, when the NHS trust had supposedly corrected its mistakes, inspectors
witnessed "dirty wards, dirty toilets and commodes, bedding and equipment lying
on floors, faeces on bed rails, pubic hair in baths, mould and cobwebs in
showers".
John Carvel, social affairs editor
Tuesday
July 25, 2006 The Guardian
- One of the country's biggest NHS trusts has banned visitors from sitting on
patients' beds in hospital in an attempt to cut rates of the
superbug MRSA. Friends and
relatives will have to sit on chairs when they visit patients in the four
hospitals run by
Southampton University Hospitals NHS trust. Young children will only be able
to visit with the approval of the ward manager, and visitors will be asked to
use alcohol hand gel before and after each visit. Sarah Hall, health
correspondent
Wednesday
August 2, 2006 The Guardian
-
Targets have failed the NHS. Last month's report by the Healthcare
Commission on the outbreaks of
infectious diarrhoea in
Stoke Mandeville hospital, in which 334 patients fell ill and at least 33
died, showed that managers overrode the advice of the expert clinicians on their
own staff and thus failed to isolate infected patients to control the outbreak.
This active mismanagement was driven by a need to meet
targets, in particular the requirement to clear patients from the accident
and emergency department within four hours. Patients in A&
E with infections were admitted to open wards rather than isolation
facilities, which were in short supply. Almost equally disturbing is the sharp
rise in hospital readmission rates - by nearly a quarter since 2002, according
to government figures released this week. The most likely explanation is
premature discharge of patients by hospital trusts under pressure of targets.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of Times
10 August 2006
- NHS told
cleanliness is way to healthy books. Hospitals could save billions of pounds
a year if they took simple steps to cut the number of patients who are admitted
with one illness only to catch an infection or suffer another mishap, according
to an insurance broker. Marsh, the world's largest insurance broker which also
advises clients on risk, pointed out that one in 10 hospital admissions lead to
additional and unrelated problems. Researchers believe that in about half of
those cases, the adverse event could be prevented. The National Audit Office has
calculated that British hospitals spend, on average, £2.5bn a year on litigation
and other measures, such as having to keep patients in beds longer as a result
of complications suffered in hospital.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of Telegraph
17 August 2006
- Doctors expose
'crisis' at TV hospital. Blunders by bosses have endangered lives at one of
Britain's busiest casualty departments, the hospital's own doctors claimed. Six
senior consultants at the Royal
London claimed management decisions at the hospital had led to
serious lapses in patient care.
An orthopaedic surgeon said: "Specialists from every department have written
letters to management that we can't do without certain services like radiology.
But managers are deaf and are obsessed with targets." Some of the doctors
claimed that two patients died because equipment that could have saved them was
not ordered; patients with minor injuries are treated before seriously ill ones
just to keep government waiting time targets; bosses refuse to provide cover for
doctors who are on holiday, ill or suspended, with serious consequences to
treatment; 15,000 packets of X-rays were found lying in a corridor, meaning some
serious illness may not have been spotted. One orthopaedic surgeon was concerned
that some patients at high risk
of carrying MRSA were shuttled into general wards to fulfill government
four-hour
waiting time targets. Senior radiologist Dr Otto Chan was
suspended last year. He was summarily dismissed despite an investigation
panel recommending his reinstatement. Astonishingly half the £1.5million legal
costs of his suspension and dismissal were taken from the £7million radiology
budget. He discovered the numbers used to identify files were being reused after
three months for different patients "to save a few hundred pounds". "It meant
some patients with life threatening conditions were given the all clear because
someone else's report found its way onto their file. I told managers it was
unsafe but they threatened to discipline me."
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of Mirror 1 September 2006
- Cash cuts 'could
multiply MRSA'. Health
campaigners have warned that dire financial pressures could make Kingston and
Tolworth Hospitals' cleanliness record worse, after both landed in the bottom 20
per cent of hospitals for patient environment. Geoff Martin from pressure group
London Health Emergency said he was worried about the impact on cleanliness
of a threatened £7.5million cut in income from the PCT, which could fall on
Kingston Hospital by April. The effects could be anything up to that amount in
budget cuts, including possible job losses, ward and theatre closures.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of Kingston
Guardian 15 September 2006
- Health inspectors announced an inquiry yesterday into an outbreak of the
hospital infection Clostridium difficile which contributed to the deaths of 20
patients at an NHS trust in
Kent. The Healthcare Commission said C difficile had emerged as the most
serious hospital-acquired infection, causing more deaths than the superbug MRSA.
Its inspectors will look into an outbreak at Maidstone hospital, where 136
patients were diagnosed with the infection between April and June. Maidstone and
Tunbridge Wells NHS trust said the infection was the definite cause of death of
six patients. Another 14 died due to a range of medical problems including C
difficile, but the infection was not deemed to be the main cause of death. A
further four had C difficile, but it was unlikely to have led to their deaths.
The commission said the infection was the major infectious cause of diarrhoea
acquired in hospitals in the UK and may cause fatal inflammation of the walls of
the intestine. In July the commission published the findings of an inquiry into
three outbreaks of C difficile at
Stoke Mandeville hospital near Aylesbury which may have killed at least 41
older people since 2003. John Carvel, social affairs editor
Wednesday
September 27, 2006 The Guardian
- The true scale of Britain's hospital superbug problems emerged today as a
leading hospital trust admitted that a 'hypervirulent' infection had claimed the
lives of at least 49 patients - and possibly as many as 78 people - in the space
of nine months. The superbug Clostridium difficile (C. difficile), which can
cause severe illness and death in patients who have undergone surgery, appears
to be at unprecedented levels. It has turned into a more virulent strain,
ironically as a result of antibiotics commonly prescribed to fight other
infections. The increase in cases is partly due to dirty wards, but also to a
shortage of beds. The bacterium has also become more deadly because it has
mutated genetically, becoming resistant to other treatments. Three hospitals in
Leicester admitted yesterday that the bug is likely to have caused 28
patients' deaths and contributed to another 21 since the beginning of this year.
A further 29 suspicious cases have been referred to the coroner. One of the
affected hospitals lies in the constituency of the Health Secretary, Patricia
Hewitt, who has tried to prioritise infection control within the NHS. It emerged
last week that at least 20 patients are thought to have died during an outbreak
in Kent earlier this year as a resilient strain of C. difficile spread across
the country. The Healthcare Commission, the NHS's independent inspection body,
is to hold an inquiry into the outbreak at
Maidstone Hospital, when 136 patients were diagnosed with the infection over
a three-month period. According to the commission, C. difficile is the major
infectious cause of diarrhoea acquired in UK hospitals. It can also lead to
fevers, severe inflammation and death in around 5 per cent of cases. More than
51,000 patients in England were found to be carrying the infection last year,
with experts warning that it is now more of a danger than MRSA. The use of
detergents may also unwittingly have spread the infection. It is thought the
chemicals used on floors and equipment may encourage the creation of bacterial
spores that are much more resistant to attack. The only answer appears to be
steam-cleaning wards and immediate isolation of infected patients, which will
make it harder for hospitals to meet waiting list targets. Jo Revill,
health editor
Sunday
October 1, 2006 The Observer
- While hospitals struggle to combat virtually indestructible superbugs, Emine
Saner finds out what patients can do to avoid catching them.
Thursday
October 5, 2006 The Guardian
- Blair's barmy
army. Critics say the government has blown £70 billion hiring management
consultants to do the work of ministers and civil servants - badly. Despite the
billions poured into the NHS, hospital trusts are still ending up in deficit.
Teams of consultants are parachuted in and come to only one conclusion: cuts
must be made. "Men in smart suits turn up," says Dr Paul Miller, who was
chairman of the (medical) Consultants Committee at the British Medical
Association, "and tell doctors and managers what they know already and charge a
fortune." Thanks to a succession of consultant-led disasters, including the £12
billion computer scheme, the almost universal, popular view of management
consultants is that they are (a) incompetent, (b) greedy, and (c) ruthlessly
willing to exploit the government's managerial incompetence. They can even,
according to some, cost lives. Management consultant turned whistleblower Neil
Glass insists it was the "consultancy culture" that resulted in the
privatisation of NHS cleaning contracts that was started by the Tories. This led
to dirtier hospitals and some of the
highest rates of MRSA, a
frequently lethal infection, in the world. But inside government, the line
is that it's all going very well and consultants are a necessary tool for
modernising public administration. The official figure of government spending on
consultants comes from the MCA: £2.2 billion annually. Since the MCA only
represents two-thirds of consultancies, the real figure must be nearer £3
billion. Furthermore, Glass argues that IT spending should be included, as this
is largely determined by consultants. On that basis, new Labour has spent £70
billion on consultants since 1997. Perhaps more important is the astonishing
blurring of the lines between consultancy and government. Patricia Hewitt, the
health secretary, was head of research at Accenture when it was known as
Andersen Consulting. At least half of the £1.5 billion spent so far on the NHS
IT project has gone to lawyers, consultants and PRs. Perhaps the most visible
sign that Labour couldn't wait to bring in the consultants was the DeLorean
affair. John DeLorean was a US businessman who, in the early 1980s, planned to
set up a company to produce a highly futuristic sports car. Aided by government
incentives, he established his plant in Northern Ireland. The disaster that
ensued was partly due to a poor business model and partly due to fraud that had
gone undetected by DeLorean's auditors, Arthur Andersen. As a result, Andersen
was effectively banned from government work and Margaret Thatcher launched a
£200m lawsuit against the company. But when Labour came to power, the lawsuit
was settled for £22m. Then Andersen split into an accountancy business - that
became the auditors of Enron - and a management consultancy, known as Accenture.
Aided by the advocacy of Patricia Hewitt, Accenture became a big government
supplier. The truth was, Labour was so keen to bring in the consultants over the
heads of the civil service, it chose to ignore the lessons of the recent past. Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of Times
26 November 2006
-
Expert warns of vCJD blood transfusion risk. People who receive blood
transfusions risk catching the human form of BSE from donors who do not realise
they are carrying the illness, an expert warned today. Professor John Collinge
made the assessment after investigating cases of people known to have acquired
variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) from a blood transfusion. Writing in
the medical journal the Lancet, he said blood transfusions seemed to be an
efficient route for transmitting the infectious prion proteins believed to cause
vCJD. Doctors know of 66 people who were given the disease by contaminated
blood, three of whom died of vCJD. Twenty-four of those are sill alive and at
"substantial" risk. Those who do not realise they are carrying the prions,
thought to have an incubation period of up to 50 years, risk passing the disease
on. Staff and agencies
Friday
December 8, 2006 Guardian Unlimited
- MRSA superbug strain kills two. A form of the superbug MRSA has
killed patients in a British hospital for the first time, public health
officials said today. Two people - a patient and a healthcare worker - died in
September at a
West Midlands hospital after contracting the aggressive strain of MRSA, the
Health Protection Agency (HPA) said. An investigation by the HPA, which monitors
infectious diseases, found eight people tested positive for Panton-Valentine
Leukocidin community-associated MRSA, commonly known as PVL. Four of those
people developed an infection, two of whom subsequently died. David Batty and
agencies
Monday December 18, 2006 Guardian Unlimited
- Nurse and patient were killed by MRSA variant. The two people who
died after becoming infected with a lethal strain of bacterium not seen before
in UK hospitals were a patient and a healthcare worker at the North
Staffordshire NHS University hospital, it was confirmed yesterday. The
hospital said the deaths occurred in March and September this year. Only after
the second death, "which set alarm bells ringing", according to a spokesman, did
the hospital discover that a variant of the "superbug" MRSA was to blame. This
form of MRSA, which has been detected in the community and killed a young marine
after a leg injury became infected, produces a toxin called PVL - panton
valentine leukocidin - which kills white blood cells, damaging the body's immune
system and making it unable to fight off other infections such as pneumonia.
Nine further cases of PVL-producing MRSA were identified at the hospital, but no
other patients have died. Sarah Boseley, health editor
Tuesday
December 19, 2006 The Guardian
- Concern grows after five babies test positive for PVL bug. Five
babies have tested positive for the rare "PVL" bug, raising fears yesterday
about infections among vulnerable babies in neonatal wards. The bug has already
killed two people in
Staffordshire and may have been a factor in the death of a baby at the
Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, officials confirmed. The baby boy
was born 13 weeks prematurely and died seven days later on December 11 of an
infection. He later tested positive for the Panton-Valentine Leukocidin toxin.
But the hospital and government health officials stressed that the PVL strain
was not in the form of the MRSA "super bug" which caused two deaths at the
University Hospital of North Staffordshire, Stoke-on-Trent, earlier this year
and prompted the agency to issue a warning to the NHS last week. A third of
people carry Staphylococcus aureus infections, 2% of those are PVL positive. PVL
can cause abcesses and skin infections and in the worst cases severe lung
infections. The PVL bug is known to have mutated into a more virulent MRSA
superbug and the Health Protection Agency issued warnings last week following
the deaths in Staffordshire. The combination of the treatment-resistance of the
superbug and the toxic nature of PVL has proved deadly but the non-MRSA version
in Norfolk is more easily treated and would only be harmful in very vulnerable
people. Polly Curtis, health correspondent
Saturday
December 23, 2006 The Guardian
- Hospital memo
'horrifies' nurse. A hospital has told staff to re-use disposable equipment
to save money, but one nurse was so disgusted she plans to ignore the
instruction. Theatre workers at Hope Hospital in
Salford received an internal memo saying they should use Flowtron boots more
than once. The Flowtron boot is put on patients during surgery to prevent deep
vein thrombosis. It is attached to a pump to keep circulation going. The
manufacturers advise they are for single patient use only. One theatre worker
said she will refuse to obey the memo for fear of spreading MRSA to patients.
The theatre worker, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of being sacked,
said: "I was absolutely horrified at this advice - it comes at a time when
hospitals across the country are battling
not only MRSA but the new
superbug clostridium difficile. Are we seriously expected to take the boots
off one patient, after they could have been splashed with fluids during surgery
and then put them on another patient ?
I, for one, will continue to obey the manufacturer's instructions and only use
them once. If the company says they are single use only, then as professionals
we have a duty of care to our patients to adhere to that advice." A Hope
Hospital spokesman said that the boots do not touch a patient's skin, because
fabric has already been wrapped around the leg and is discarded after each
patient. Summary by
Keep our NHS Public of Manchester
Evening News 4 January 2007
- NHS will fail to meet MRSA target, says memo. Goal of halving
infections may never be achieved. Health department admits progress has
been slow. The government's strategy for halving the number of hospital superbug
infections was in disarray yesterday after a leaked internal memo to Patricia
Hewitt, the health secretary, revealed doubt as to whether the target could ever
be met. Liz Woodeson, the director of health protection, warned Ms Hewitt that
the three-year target to halve MRSA infections by April 2008 was likely to be
missed. Sarah Boseley, health editor
Thursday
January 11, 2007 The Guardian
- Existing drug will cure hospital superbug MRSA, say scientists.
Compound kills antibiotic-resistant bacteria in tests. Routine treatment
could be available in two years. Scientists believe they have found a cure for
the MRSA superbug after unearthing an existing drug on a computer database. The
discovery means patients could be routinely treated within two or three years,
since the drug is known to be safe and is already used on the NHS in the
treatment of acute illness. Sarah Hall, health correspondent
Wednesday
January 17, 2007 The Guardian
- Can anything stop the superbug? MRSA is already notorious for killing
the elderly and frail. But now a new form of the 'hospital superbug' is
spreading through our parks and playgrounds. You can catch it with a single
scratch, and the drugs that used to hold out some hope are rapidly becoming
useless. Sarah Boseley reports.
Wednesday January 17, 2007 The Guardian
- Bacteria tests reveal how MRSA strain can kill in 24 hours.
Cases of drug-resistant PVL likely to rise in Britain. Fear that GPs will
not recognise lethal infection. Scientists have unravelled the workings of a
deadly superbug that attacks healthy young people and can kill within 24 hours.
PVL-producing MRSA, a highly-virulent strain of the drug-resistant superbug,
methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, has spread around the world and
caused deaths in the UK, Europe, the US and Australia. PVL or panton-valentine
leukocidin toxin destroys white blood cells and usually causes boils and other
skin complaints. But if it infects open wounds it can cause necrotising
pneumonia, a disease that rapidly destroys lung tissue and is lethal in 75% of
cases. Thousands of infections have been recorded across the US, but scientists
believe the number is likely to rise in Britain. Ian Sample, science
correspondent
Friday
January 19, 2007 The Guardian
- Tories call for better facilities for nurses to tackle MRSA. NHS
trusts should be required to provide changing and laundry facilities for staff
to improve cleanliness in hospitals, David Cameron said today. Health service
professionals needed more help maintaining hygiene standards to stop the spread
of MRSA, the Tory leader told a nursing conference. A survey by the Royal
College of Nursing recently found that access to changing facilities in
hospitals had declined. Hélène Mulholland and agencies
Tuesday January 23, 2007 Guardian Unlimited [This is something PPI Forums
have pressed for for years]
- Labour has to
clean up. In a comment piece Kevin Maguire writes: "The madness of awarding
juicy hospital cleaning contracts to private firms is exposed by instructions to
cleaners to "pick up crisp packets before dusting floors". A 142-page NHS manual
leaves nothing to chance, lecturing on everything from how to use a dustpan and
brush to how to scrape chewing-gum off tiles. The Health Department issued the
detailed guidance in the hope commercial contractors will do what they are paid
to do. Profit-hungry firms screwing down the pay of a skeleton staff are clearly
failing to keep hospitals clean. MRSA is on the march and targets to reduce
deaths from superbugs will almost certainly be missed next year. A friendly
health expert who unearthed the manual believes Labour's failure to bring
hospital cleaning back in-house is one of its more stupid mistakes. The Tories
put cleaning, along with portering and other important services, out to tender
in 1983 to cut costs. And what a false, indeed fatal, economy it has proved to
be as patients going into hospital to get better fall victim of poor hygiene and
then need extensive treatment or even die. Back in September 2004, the then
Health Secretary John Reid announced at the Labour conference in Brighton an end
to cut-price, contracted-out cleaning. Alas it never happened. More recently
health minister Andy Burnham, a rising star in the government, called for an end
to cut-price, contracted out cleaning. Burnham should order the NHS Trusts to
hire their own cleaners instead of simply urging them to. NHS creator Nye Bevan
wanted a bedpan dropped in any hospital to reverberate throughout Whitehall -
Byrne deserves to feel the hot fury of any patient languishing on a dirty ward.
Labour has a slender one per cent lead on health over the Tories according to
the latest opinion poll, a wafer-thin margin illustrating how the government has
catastrophically misplayed one of its strongest cards. If Labour fails to beat
the Tories comfortably on the NHS, the party will lose the next general
election." Summary by
Keep our NHS Public of Mirror
24 January 2007
- Conservatives
call for in-house laundries to fight infection. Trusts should be obliged to
provide changing and laundry facilities as part of the war on infection control,
the Conservatives have said. Summary by
Keep our NHS Public of Health Service Journal
25 January 2007
- Hospital refuses
to cut cleaning costs. Executives at a
debt-ridden hospital have gone against the team brought into overhaul their
finances by refusing to cut
cleaning costs. The "turnaround team" sent to
Southport and Ormskirk Hospital to sort out its ailing finances told it to
reduce the amount spent on the vital service to help wipe out its £15m debt. But
management refused, insisting the cleaning team was crucial to patients' health
by keeping superbugs such as MRSA at bay. Summary by
Keep our NHS Public of Liverpool
Daily Post 29 January 2007
- Superbug death toll continues to rise. David Batty and agencies
Thursday
February 22, 2007 Guardian Unlimited
- Deaths caused by two superbugs soar as health inspectorate accuses
government. 5,436 deaths from MRSA and C. difficile in 2005.
More die from infections than are killed on roads. The number of deaths caused
by two superbugs soared in 2005, raising new concerns over the standard of
hygiene at hospitals across the country. According to government statistics, the
number of deaths linked to MRSA rose by 39% in 2005 and deaths linked to a
second superbug, Clostridium difficile, increased by 69%. Polly Curtis and
John Carvel
Friday
February 23, 2007 The Guardian
- Old fashioned
wards 'more hygienic than new ones'. Old hospitals with high ceilings and
opening windows are more hygienic than modern ones with sophisticated
ventilation systems, according to a new report. The research led by Rod Escombe,
of Imperial College London, used a tracer gas to work out the rate at which
infected air would be diluted in a variety of health service rooms and how
quickly TB would spread. Surprisingly, old wards were found to be healthier than
new wards in general and ventilation through doors and windows beat mechanical
air-conditioning every time. An isolation ward is designed to keep the infection
contained, rather than to disinfect the air within it, but it amounts to the
best that engineering can reasonably do and the researchers were surprised by
how much cleaner the air was in older wards. Even with almost no wind, the air
changed more than twice as quickly.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public of Yorkshire
Post 27 February 2007
- Cleaners should
be part of infection control team, says Unison. Hospitals should set minimum
staffing levels for their cleaning services in a bid to help prevent superbugs
such as MRSA, the country's biggest trade union urged. Unison said it believed
that lives would be saved and the £1bn cost of hospital acquired infections cut
if better cleaning standards were introduced. In evidence to Parliament, Unison
said cleaning should be part of the fabric of the NHS. Head of health Karen
Jennings said: "Sadly, the culture of cleaning was sold off at the same time as
compulsory competitive tendering was brought in. It's time to recognise the
damage caused by outsourcing. It cannot be a coincidence that as the number of
hospital acquired infections have risen, the number of NHS cleaners have been
cut in two. It is also not surprising to learn that contracts based on minimum
wages, poor conditions and inadequate staffing lead to low staff morale and
productivity, high staff turnover and overall poor performance." Unison said
cleaners wanted extra resources to do a better job and ease the stress caused by
"massive under-investment".
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public of Yorkshire
Post 27 February 2007
- Cleaners key to
MRSA fight. Hospitals should set minimum levels of staffing for cleaners in
order to prevent superbugs such as MRSA, according to the UK's largest trade
union Unison. In evidence to parliament the union argued that lives could be
saved and the £1bn cost of hospital acquired infections could be cut if cleaning
standards were improved. Head of health Karen Jennings said: "Sadly the culture
of cleaning was sold off at the same time as compulsory competitive tendering
was brought in. Cleaners should be part of the infection control team, at the
very heart of the battle against MRSA and other superbugs. It's time to
recognise the damage caused by outsourcing. It cannot be a coincidence that as
the number of hospital acquired infections have risen, the number of NHS
cleaners have been cut in two. It is also not surprising to learn that contracts
based on minimum wages, poor conditions and inadequate staffing lead to low
staff morale and productivity, high staff turnover and overall poor
performance." A Department of Health spokesman said: "Cleaning is an important
element of infection control in terms of reducing the risks of infection across
the board, and we agree that cleaners should feel part of the wider NHS team -
in fact, health minister Andy Burnham made this point in his work shadowing
report just last month. But every hospital has different cleaning requirements
and we do not try to tell each hospital how many cleaners to employ. That would
be micro-management of the worst kind. We have set clear national cleaning
standards, which are regularly reviewed and updated to continue to drive up
standards of hospital cleanliness." Summary by
Keep our NHS Public of Stoke
Sentinel 2 March 2007
- Warning over MRSA risk as baby inquest opens. An inquest into the
death of a day-old baby who was thought to be the youngest victim of the MRSA
superbug will begin today, as the Liberal Democrats warn hospital overcrowding
is increasing the risk of the superbug spreading. Luke Day was 36-hours-old when
he died at
Ipswich hospital in 2005. MRSA was present though health experts
commissioned by the hospital said they could not be sure the bug caused his
death. Press Association
Monday
March 12, 2007 SocietyGuardian.co.uk
- 'Warning signs missed' in MRSA baby's death. Hospital staff missed
sickness warning signs in a baby suspected of being the youngest victim of the
deadly MRSA superbug, an inquest heard today. Luke Day died aged 36 hours at
Ipswich Hospital in February 2005. Traces of MRSA were found in the baby's
organs but experts disagreed about whether MRSA was the cause of death, the
inquest in Ipswich was told. Press Association
Monday
March 12, 2007 SocietyGuardian.co.uk
- Coroner rules baby, 36 hours, was youngest victim of MRSA. A baby is
believed to be the youngest ever victim of the MRSA bug, after contracting the
virus and dying at 36 hours old, a coroner concluded yesterday. Luke Day, of
Woodbridge in
Suffolk, died in February 2005, but might have been saved had hospital staff
recognised signs of his illness, an internal inquiry found. Doctors at the
Ipswich hospital had not properly co-ordinated his care, the inquest heard. He
should have been tested for infections when his temperature and blood sugar were
found to be low, and he was "lethargic and slightly floppy". Lee Glendinning
Tuesday March 13, 2007 The Guardian
- Hospital tests new weapon in MRSA fight. A
Birmingham hospital is to install copper surfaces after university trials
showed they could dramatically cut the prevalence of MRSA. Selly Oak hospital,
Birmingham, is to see whether the surfaces can help stop the spread of MRSA and
other superbugs after tests at Southampton University showed the natural
antimicrobial properties of copper and its alloys quickly suffocated superbugs.
Sara Gaines and agencies
Tuesday
March 13, 2007 SocietyGuardian.co.uk
- Hospital guilty over legionnaires' death. A hospital where a patient
died of legionnaires' disease caught from a dirty showerhead was criticised in
court yesterday for "blatantly" ignoring safety guidance. Daryl Eyles, 37,
contracted the disease hours before he was due to leave hospital following
successful treatment for cancer.
Bath's Royal United hospital (RUH) yesterday pleaded guilty to charges that
it carried out inadequate safety checks of its water system. Jennifer Gunning,
chair of the bench that heard the case at Bath magistrates court, referred the
case to Bristol crown court because she did not feel the lower court's
sentencing powers were sufficient. She said: "Guidance was available for more
than 10 years, but this was blatantly not followed. The RUH management was
inadequate. Mr Eyles died as a result of those failings and many other
vulnerable patients were put at risk. We believe this to be so serious that our
sentencing powers are not sufficient." Steven Morris
Wednesday
March 21, 2007 The Guardian
- Many staff would not want to be patients in own hospitals. Many NHS
hospital staff would not be happy with the standard of care they would get if
they were patients at the place they work, the government's health watchdog said
today after the world's biggest survey of employee opinion. After interviewing
more than 128,000 staff in NHS trusts across England, the Healthcare Commission
survey found only 42% would be happy with standards at their own establishment.
A quarter said they would be definitely unhappy and 34% did not have a view. The
study, which showed continuing concern about lack of handwashing facilities and
abuse of NHS staff, raised doubts about the effectiveness of the government's
drive to create a patient-centred NHS. Just under half the staff in hospitals
said care of patients was their trust's top priority, but 25% said it was not.
John Carvel, social affairs editor
Friday
March 30, 2007 The Guardian
- Call to screen all prospective hospital patients for superbug. The
government should consider a mass screening programme to test all patients for
the most virulent form of superbug before they are admitted to hospital, a
doctor suggests today. Hospitals could set up quarantine zones to isolate all
infected patients to prevent its spread, John Starr, a specialist in geriatric
medicine at Edinburgh University, argues in the British Medical Journal. The
measure was prompted by the soaring death rates from Clostridium difficile.
Latest figures suggest the bug was responsible for at least 3,800 deaths in 2005
- 2,000 more than MRSA - and an outbreak in Norfolk has contributed to the
deaths of at least 30 people this year. Unlike MRSA, C. difficile is rampant in
the community, with 13,000 cases acquired outside of hospitals last year. One in
20 people also carry the bug without experiencing symptoms. To prevent the
spread through hospitals, where people are vulnerable, all patients could be
screened on admission, Dr Starr says. Polly Curtis, health correspondent
Friday
April 6, 2007 The Guardian
- Warning over
surgery kit cleaning. Plans to centralise the sterilisation of surgery
equipment into 50 new "super centres" have been labelled "a recipe for chaos" by
the British Orthopaedic Association (BOA). Ministers insist the move is needed
to meet new standards of
cleanliness. But surgeon Andrew Thomas, spokesman for the BOA, told BBC
Radio 4's Today programme said it could delay operations. He added that the BOA
had contacted the National Audit Office to see if centralising the services
represented value for money for the NHS. In January, figures emerged that showed
a large increase in the number of operations cancelled due to a lack of surgical
instruments. A total of 1,765 operations were cancelled
in 2005/ 06 - up 40% from 1,252 in
2002/ 03.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public of BBC
6 April 2007
-
Patients alerted over TB nurse. A hospital has contacted more than 500
surgical patients after doctors diagnosed a part-time nurse's persistent cough
as tuberculosis this week. Eighty people who spent a fortnight or more on the
ward where the woman had worked since September have been offered chest x-rays
and a further group who were recently x-rayed will have their results checked
for traces of the disease. Most of those contacted have been advised to contact
GPs only if they are concerned or show possible symptoms of TB - a combination
of persistent coughing, weight loss, chest pain, unusual sweating and feeling
permanently tired. "There is a risk, but only a small one. We're telling people
not to worry," said Mike Proctor, chief operations officer at
York district hospital, where the unnamed nurse worked on ward 16. The ward
takes adult surgical cases, a high proportion of them elderly. Martin Wainwright
Friday
April 27, 2007 The Guardian
- Synergy launches NHS superbug screening. Synergy Healthcare is in
talks with a number of NHS trusts over the launch of a new screening service
designed to catch patients carrying deadly superbugs before they are admitted to
hospital. Patients laid low by superbugs are thought to cost the NHS £1bn a
year, but up to 7 per cent of patients may be already infected before they set
foot on a ward. Synergy boss Richard Steeves says the test looks specifically
for MRSA bacteria, and could save hospitals £100m a year. Its labs complete the
test in four hours, and diagnosed patients can then be treated separately. Zoe
Wood
Sunday May 13, 2007 The Observer
- 'Real tonic' as
services go in-house. Hospital patients could have "better food" and
"cleaner wards" following a decision to bring domestic services back in-house.
For 10 years, catering, porter and cleaning services at Grimsby's Diana,
Princess of Wales Hospital have been contracted out, but bosses have turned down
a number of bids tendered in favour of controlling the services - and standards
- themselves. The
Northern Lincolnshire and Goole Hospitals NHS Trust board, which manages the
Scartho Road site, unanimously rejected the bids because they did not meet both
the financial and quality criteria set by the trust. Instead, the services will
be run by the hospital itself. The existing 450 cleaners, caterers and porters
working for the current contractor, Carillion Services Limited, will be employed
directly by Northern Lincolnshire and Goole Hospitals NHS Trust from August 6 in
its three hospitals - Grimsby, Scunthorpe and Lincoln. One hospital worker, who
did not wish to be named, said: "This is fantastic news. I think it will help to
improve standards of cleanliness at the hospital - if something needs cleaning,
somebody can be told to do it straight away, rather than a contractor having to
be contacted and meetings having to be held." Nigel Schofield, director of
facilities management for the trust, said an extra £1-million will eventually be
invested into the services. Bids were received from a number of external
companies, and an in-house team made up of hospital managers, nursing staff and
union representatives. Cleanliness in hospitals is often in the news. Earlier
this month, 122 patients were struck down by the potentially life-threatening
Clostridium difficile bug.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public of Grimsby
Telegraph 23 May 2007
- Killer bug infections undercounted, says MP. A Tory MP today called
on the government to get to grips with the true extent of Clostridium difficile
infections in Britain after discovering that official statistics ignored
thousands of cases of the potentially fatal bug. Press Association
Thursday
May 31, 2007 SocietyGuardian.co.uk
- Health watchdog plans superbug spot checks. Health inspectors are
preparing a programme of unannounced swoops on NHS hospitals across England to
test standards of cleanliness and infection control in the biggest ever
crackdown on MRSA and other killer superbugs. The Healthcare Commission said
today that it will mount spot checks on 120 NHS trusts over the coming year.
Teams of inspectors will make physical checks in wards and toilets as well as
examining records to test whether staff comply with 11 compulsory duties under
the government's hygiene code. John Carvel, social affairs editor
Monday
June 4, 2007 SocietyGuardian.co.uk
- 120 trusts to be inspected on hygiene.
The Healthcare Commission is to carry out unannounced inspections at 120 NHS
trusts over the coming year in its biggest ever programme of visits relating
to healthcare-associated infection. The Commission will check compliance with
the
Government’s Hygiene Code, which outlines 11 compulsory duties to prevent
and manage healthcare-associated infections such as MRSA and Clostridium
difficile.
Care & Health 8 June 2007
- Quarter of NHS trusts miss targets for superbug. One in four NHS
trusts in England admit they are failing to comply with hygiene regulations
introduced last year to halt the spread of MRSA and other hospital superbugs,
health inspectors disclose today. The Healthcare Commission said 99 of the 394
trusts confessed to not meeting all the standards included in a compulsory
hygiene code introduced by health ministers last October. Self-assessments by
the trusts show widespread hygiene problems, including failure to
decontaminate reusable medical equipment. Hygiene failings were admitted by 38
hospital trusts, the ambulance service in
Yorkshire,
Staffordshire and the
South-East Coast areas, mental health organisations and primary care
trusts. John Carvel, social affairs editor
Monday
June 18, 2007 The Guardian. Link to the
Healthcare Commission, including an Excel workbook with detail of self
assessments.
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