Hospitals Continue to Fail on Superbugs

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Many NHS trusts have been named and shamed for putting patients at risk of superbugs. The hospitals continue to fail to keep wards clean or properly decontaminate surgical equipment. One ambulance service was also told to clean up its act.

Health regulators have instructed the trusts to tighten up their policies to tackle infections such as MRSA and Clostridium difficile or face huge fines. In extreme cases, the new Care Quality Commission has the power to prosecute managers who fail to take action, and even to close hospitals. Four hospitals singled out were supposedly elite foundation trusts.

A parlimentary spokesman said: 'It is concerning that there are still a number of health bodies coninuing to fail in meeting even the most basic standards of infection control.
There are still an appalling number of people catching hospital infections in this country almost 60,000 last year. It's shameful evidence that deaths from Clostridium difficile every year are now more than eight times higher than they were ten years ago.

Hospital infections without taking proper steps tp prevent them continue to increase and spread.Two NHS trusts were responsible for more than 100 superbug deaths each between 2006 and 2007. One had the highest rates of superbug deaths was among under 65s in London.

Some hospital trusts have been given a deadline for taking action to meet hygiene standards while others have ongoing conditions on their registration. All 388 NHS trusts are now registered with the new 'super-regulator' which has come into effect and covers both health and social care.

As part of the process, trusts have to declare whether they were compliant with national hygiene standards. The new 'super-regulator' also looks at other information, including patient surveys and healthcare hygiene inspections.

The new 'super-regulator' has evidence that some trusts had failed to achieve the required standards for infection control on repeated occasions, had a high infection rate or was identified as having substantial issues that could risk patient safety.

The 'super-regulator' states that they are aware from recent decreases in rates of MRSA and Clostridium difficile that the picture on infection control is improving however further assurance that the new regulations are being achieved is required. While infection rates at some hospitals are not necessarily higher, they can do more to strengthen their approaches to infection control and help prevent outbreaks.