Hospitals hit with superbug scare; community calls for clean up |
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Sun, 28 Aug 2005 00:35
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LONDON - A deadly superbug is making life difficult for several hospitals around the UK with official figures revealing that there were 44,488 cases of the infection among the elderly patients in the country over the last year.
The Department of Health revealed that the cases of Clostridium difficile (C difficile) infection were mounting in hospitals. The bug, which is a normal resident of the human gut, has evolved into a deadly superbug. These superbugs are resistant to the usual antibiotics preferred to treat infections. The C difficile superbug shows a particular liking for elderly patients over 65 years of age and is deadlier than the MRSA superbug, which is technically Staphylococcus aureus.
Infection with the C difficile superbug causes severe diahorrea that can sometimes be fatal for the patient. The bug thrives in places that are particularly filthy. 934 succumbed to the bug in 2003 and last year the figure was 814.
Karen Jennings, of public services union Unison has come down heavily on the cleanliness record of hospitals and has asked them to clean up their filth, “It's not rocket science - the way to wipe out these bugs is to have cleaner hospitals and if you want cleaner hospitals you must have more cleaners. Cleaners are the frontline of defense and yet contracting out has led to a drastic cut in the number of hospital cleaners," she pointed out.
The George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust in the West Midlands was the worst hit with 342 cases in 2004. The Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Buckinghamshire has had 300 cases since 2003, 12 of them have been fatal so far. "We have issued guidance on dealing with outbreaks, with advice on antibiotic policies and isolating patients," said Chief Nursing Officer Christine Beasley. Dr Paul Grime, of the British Medical Association felt that the government must fund the hospitals properly if they were to maintain a zero bug criteria, "If we're going to successfully tackle the problem of hospital- acquired infections, we need a coordinated approach across the whole hospital community - doctors, nurses, cleaners, managers, patients and their visitors - all taking action on hygiene," he commented. Liberal Democrat health spokesman Simon Burns said, "The NHS must re-learn the lessons Florence Nightingale taught over 100 years ago. What is needed now is a culture of zero tolerance for hospital infection."
The Department of Health figures show that the worst hospitals as far as the superbug infection is concerned are :-
George Eliot Hospital, Nuneaton
Kettering General Hospital
North West London Hospitals
Royal United Hospital, Bath
University Hospital, North Staffordshire
Queen Elizabeth Hospital King's Lynn
Frimley Park Hospital, Surrey
Portsmouth Hospitals
Southampton University Hospitals
Milton Keynes General Hospital
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