Superbugs

The Daily Mail recently reported that the Office of National Statistics had stated that the number of deaths attributed to MRSA in England and Wales had nearly doubled between 2001 and 2005, from 1211 to 2083. (see http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=437817&in_page_id=1770

This is, of course, one way of keeping operation waiting lists down: who wants to be operated on in an NHS hospital when there's every chance that you won't make it back out alive? No wonder the private alternatives blatently advertise themselves as being clean....

The BBC reported in April on the continuing rise of superbugs in NHS Hospitals, as detailed in the Health Protection Agency's own figures.

"More hospital patients in England are getting the deadly Clostridium difficile bug, figures show.
Health Protection Agency (HPA) data showed 55,681 cases were reported among over 65s in 2006 - up 8% in a year.

For the full report, see: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6593225.stm

Meanwhile, Good Hope Hospital in Sutton Coldfield has told housekeeping staff to turn sheets over between patients rather than wash them in order to try and save some of its £500,000 annual laundry bill.

Good Hope had a £6million pound budget deficit in 2006 and was consequentially subjected to an Audit Commission review. With items costing 0.275 pence each to wash (note: yes, less than a third of a penny), the hospital is hoping to cut its deficit by re-using dirty sheets.

However, one thing that should be noted. Good Hope recorded 36 cases of MRSA between April 2006 and January 2007 and, despite visits by a Government Task Force, is still failing to meet its superbug infection targets. The fact that it is reducing its hygiene regime to cut costs must sureley mean that they're less likely to meet these targets in future.

See the Daily Mail article at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/health/healthmain.html?in_article_id=448395&in_page_id=1774