Staff Praised As Infections Continue To Fall, UK

Main Category: Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses
Article Date: 22 Jun 2009 - 2:00 PDT

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The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) commented on figures released by the Health Protection Agency (HPA) on healthcare associated infections between January and March 2009. The figures show that while infection rates are significantly lower than they were in the same quarter of last year, they are slightly higher than those of the previous quarter.

Dr Peter Carter, RCN Chief Executive & General Secretary, said:

"We can see from these figures that the hard work and innovation of healthcare staff in tackling MRSA and C.difficile is paying off in significantly reduced infection rates. This is understandably one of the major areas of concern for patients, and I am pleased to see that significant progress is being made.

"The leadership and innovation of nurses has been central to driving down infection rates, and improving the quality of care for all patients. However, these figures do show that while the general trend is a reduction in infections, the increase last winter demonstrates that challenges remain. Everybody working in the health service needs to fully understand why this occurs if we are to continue to make progress.

"One preventable case of MRSA or C.difficile is one too many, so more information needs to be made available to explain why some problems are persisting in spite of all the hard work put in by healthcare staff. Nurses need to be given the necessary training, authority and resources to ensure that infection rates continue to fall."

Source
Royal College of Nursing (RCN)