MRSA Cases Lowest Ever Recorded as NHS Actions Begin to Take Effect, UK

Main Category: MRSA / Drug Resistance
Article Date: 07 Mar 2005 - 9:00 PDT

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UK Health Secretary John Reid welcomed the latest mandatory surveillance figures released today showing MRSA infection rates at their lowest since recording began.

He also stated that the Health Protection Agency would publish data on MRSA every six months from now on, to keep the public up to date more frequently.

Health Secretary, John Reid, said:

"These latest figures show MRSA rates at the lowest since mandatory recording began - something we introduced in 2001.

"I congratulate the hard work of NHS staff from cleaners to consultants, led by the chief nursing officer Chris Beasley, in achieving this important turning point.

"But there is still much more to do. That's why I am announcing today that the NHS wilI pilot a new rapid swab technique to identify patients with MRSA within hours rather than days. This will be particularly important in discovering if MRSA is coming into our hospitals with patients, for example, when they are transferred from care homes.

"As we congratulate infection controls teams on their success it is important to remember two things - the UK has similar levels of all hospital acquired infections as other modern health systems (between 6 and 10%).

"However, our particular problem is with the MRSA superbug that comes about because of two particular factors. Firstly, unlike countries such as Holland, we did not nip it in the bud years ago when it re-emerged - indeed it took hold in the early 1990s growing from four per cent resistance to around 30 per cent in 1997 - to become a bigger problem for us than other countries. And, secondly, we also face particularly virulent types of MRSA.

"MRSA remains a problem, we are taking action on it, and this action is having an effect.

"But nothing today should take away from the hard work of NHS staff who have made and will continue to make the real difference through their focus on this medically and scientifically challenging problem.

"No stone is being left unturned in the battle against the superbug. We are improving cleaning standards, piloting the latest science, rolling out cleanyourhands and making sure infection control is a fully staffed priority for every NHS trust.

Dr Georgia Duckworth, an MRSA expert at the HPA said:

"We welcome the initiatives announced by the Department of Health which help in the overall reduction of hospital acquired infections. We will be assisting at the Agency by carrying out the enhanced surveillance of MRSA which will collect more information about cases such as the type of ward they were acquired on, or if they were contracted in a different hospital prior to the patient's transfer. All of this information will help in our understanding of MRSA and can therefore inform future control measures."

The table above outlines the MRSA reports for every six months since 2001 from the mandatory surveillance scheme.

Notes For Editors

1. National MRSA reports from the mandatory surveillance scheme in England (Apr 01 - Sept 04) and MRSA reports from the mandatory surveillance scheme for each NHS trust can be found on the DH website - CLICK HERE:

MRSA reports broken down by Government region can be found at the Health Protection Agency's website on
http://www.hpa.org.uk

2. The Government has already taken a range of actions to improve hygiene and infection control.

- Since 1997 it has:
- started biggest hospital building programme in the history of NHS;
- recruited more staff than ever before including 77,500 more nurses;
- put in £68m to improve cleanliness and hospital appearance;
- ensured all hospital trusts now have infection prevention and control teams;
- ensured most hospital trusts have a Director of Infection Prevention and Control; and - introduced 3,000 Modern Matrons who have successfully raised profile of infection control. We now have 3,000 modern matrons, far exceeding our original target of 500.

- And the Government is doing more to improve hospital hygiene and cleanliness:
- hospital hygiene and cleanliness and infection control will be core elements of the new NHS "health check" to be run by the Healthcare Commission - the Commission published its proposals on 29 November 2004;
- we have launched the first ever national campaign to promote hand cleaning throughout the NHS - the 'cleanyourhands' campaign - over 140 acute Trusts have signed up so far; - local patients groups will conduct cleanliness inspections and make results public, starting this year;
- published a Matron's Charter - an action plan for cleaner hospitals; and
- the Chief Nursing Officer has made raising hospital cleaning standards and tackling MRSA her top priorities.

2. The two hour swab test for MRSA. This will make testing far quicker than the current test, which takes days to complete. The IDI-MRSA test which was discussed at the recent science summit on infection control will be tested at Heartlands Hospital in Birmingham. It could improve patient management and reduce the risk of MRSA transmission in NHS hospital settings. Another pilot site will be identified soon to run further tests.

3. For further press enquiries only please contact Ben Lewis on 020 7210 4990 or Claire Rich on 020 7210 5238 at DH Media Centre.

GNNREF: 111953
Issued by : DOH Press Office

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