MRSA superbug progress revealed, UK

Main Category: MRSA / Drug Resistance
Article Date: 08 Dec 2004 - 9:00 PDT

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The UK Government is set to reveal its progress in dealing with so-called superbugs like MRSA.

Health minister Lord Warner is due to explain how hospitals and other NHS sites scored in inspections by Patient Environment Action Teams (PEAT).

However, the results are expected to show that in the first round of Inspections, 90 out of 1,138 NHS sites in England were rated as either poor or unacceptable in terms of cleanliness and therefore susceptible to outbreaks of superbug infections.

Chief nursing officer Christine Beasley is also expected to reveal the initial success of the "cleanyourhands campaign", with one in three hospitals now being involved in the initiative.

The campaign encourages staff and patients to remember the importance of hand hygiene, in order to stop germs spreading between patients.

In addition, health secretary John Reid will launch new guidelines for awarding NHS cleaning contracts, aiming to give practical advice and minimum standards which hospitals should adopt when buying in cleaning services.

Hospital-acquired infections are though to be responsible for more than 5,000 deaths a year.
http://www.hda-online.org.uk

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