Healthcare Commission statement on new MRSA target, UK

Main Category: MRSA / Drug Resistance
Article Date: 07 Nov 2004 - 0:00 PDT

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In response to the announcement by the UK Secretary of State for Health John Reid of a new target to reduce MRSA bloodstream infections in hospital by half by 2008, Anna Walker, chief executive of the Healthcare Commission said:

"The Healthcare Commission welcomes the introduction of this important new target. MRSA and hospital acquired infection are extremely serious health concerns and it is right that the Government has decided to tackle this as a priority. We welcome the opportunity to monitor the implementation of this target and we will be reporting publicly on what we find.

"In addition to monitoring implementation of the new target, the Healthcare Commission will be carrying out reviews on cleanliness and hospital acquired infection with a view to identifying good practice and driving improvement where there is still more work to be done.

"We will be working in partnership with the NHS and the National Patient Safety Agency to ensure understanding of how to reduce hospital acquired infection is implemented to provide a safer healthcare environment for patients."

For media enquiries, contact Creina Lilburne in the press office on 020 7448 9439.

Notes to Editors

------- The Healthcare Commission is the independent inspection body for both the NHS and the private & voluntary healthcare sectors. It exists to promote improvements in the quality of healthcare in England and Wales

------- The Healthcare Commission has 15 commissioners and is chaired by Professor Sir Ian Kennedy who was chairman of the public inquiry into children's heart surgery at Bristol Royal Infirmary, published in 2001

------- Its roles in England include -
- assessment of performance of health service providers against Government standards
- investigation of serious failures in healthcare services
- independent review of complaints about the NHS which have not been resolved locally
- rating the performance of NHS hospitals and trusts
- publication of an annual report on healthcare performance

------- Responsibility for local inspection and investigation of NHS bodies in Wales rests with the new Healthcare Inspectorate Wales, while the private healthcare sector is regulated by the Care Standards Inspectorate for Wales. The Healthcare Commission will undertake national thematic reviews in Wales and the annual state of healthcare report covers both England and Wales

------- Equivalent bodies to the Healthcare Commission in Scotland and Northern Ireland, respectively, are NHS Quality Improvement Scotland and the Health & Personal Social Services Regulation and Improvement Authority (from April 2005)

------- Further information on the Healthcare Commission is available on http://www.healthcarecommission.org.uk

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