Worries over diluting hospital hygiene, increasing HAI, overspending |
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Published
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Fri, 24 Jun 2005 11:05
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LONDON: British law makers are increasingly concerned about the problem of increasing hospital-acquired infections (HAI). The Public Accounts Committee, a panel of the MPs, charged the government that it is not doing enough and there is evident lack of data.
In a damaging report, the committee said available data indicated that each year at least 300,000 cases of hospital acquired infection occur, this is almost an incredible 10% of patients. These HAI are causing several thousand deaths, estimated at close to 5,000 each year.
Adding insult to injury, these HAI, compounded by overspending and error strewn financial management within the NHS according to the report are costing the National Health Service (NHS) more than £1 billion every year; a cost which is paid by British taxpayers.
All in all the NHS looks to be in a sorry state of affairs, coming so soon after the family tax credit scandal it seems fortunate for Labour that none of these reports and findings on either subject were made public prior to the election.
The committee's chairman in the last Parliament, Edward Leigh, said, "Four years after we asked the government to insist on mandatory reporting of all hospital-acquired infections, we still don't have it."
He said the government had not made it mandatory for hospitals to count all infections.
"We have mandatory reporting of MRSA (Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus) cases but that is only six per cent of the total," he said. "If we don't know what is going on, how can we get a grip on this problem?"
The committee said in several instances, basic procedures like washing hands and cleaning wards properly were not being followed.
However, new data from the Department of Health has showed that MRSA bloodstream infections in hospitals fell 6.1 per cent in 2004-2005. MRSA, one of the most common causes for hospital-related infections, is resistant to drugs and leads to skin infections, sepsis and toxic shock.
Health Minster Jane Kennedy said the figure of 7,212 cases of MRSA was the lowest level since mandatory reporting of infections began in 2001-2002. But 68 out of 173 NHS Trusts have reported a rise in MRSA infections.
The government is evolving a strategy to bring the situation under control by imposing stiff penalties on hospitals, including filing criminal charges. Kennedy said these proposals will come up for discussion at various panels.
Leigh said that overuse of antibiotics has helped create a new generation of super bugs, while non-adoption of basic standards of hygiene allowed the super bugs to thrive.
The Department of Health said strategic health authorities would be taking a close look at the performance of trusts which had seen increases in MRSA cases.
Reference of interest: www.nhs.uk
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