New Hygiene Code To Ensure Standards Are Met, UK

Main Category: MRSA / Drug Resistance
Article Date: 24 May 2005 - 16:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   opinions  

UK Health Secretary announces legislation to toughen up inspection regime and impose appropriate sanctions -

In Parliament today, Health Secretary Patrica Hewitt outlined legislation to create a new hygiene code to cover health care associated infections which NHS bodies in England (including Foundation Trusts) and care homes will be required to put into effect.

Key measures will include

- A new statutory hygiene code of practice for all NHS bodies, independent healthcare providers and care homes

- New powers to issue improvement orders and sanctions for bodies which significantly fail to meet requirements of the code

Health Secretary, Patricia Hewitt, said:

"Tackling MRSA and other healthcare associated infections is a top priority for this Government. The NHS has made a good start with many hospitals already cutting their MRSA rates. But more work needs to be done. We want an effective inspection regime that can really make a difference and drive up standards of hygiene and infection control across the board.

"Hospitals which fail to meet standards in the Code will be issued with tough new improvement orders. If they continue to fail to come up to scratch, sanctions could be applied. We will consult on the details of the Code of Practice in the summer."

The Healthcare Commission will be responsible for monitoring the Code and where it considers that an NHS body is failing to comply with the Code, the inspectorate would have a new power (at its discretion) to issue an "improvement notice" stipulating the action that it considers the body should take, against a specified timescale, to meet the code.

The Commission may recommend how the NHS body should go about achieving compliance. If an organisation satisfies the inspectorate that they have taken appropriate steps, then there would be no further action. Where, in the opinion of the inspectorate, the organisation still fails in significant ways to comply with the Code, then they would report to the Secretary of State, or to Monitor in respect of Foundation Trusts.

The Department of Health will consult on all these measures and the Code of Practice in the summer including the issue of statutory powers of criminal prosecution, for which provision already exists in the Care Standards Act 2000.

1. The code will apply only to NHS bodies in England. However, broadly similar provisions will be set out in regulations which will apply to the private and voluntary healthcare sector and to the social care sector - both regulated under the Care Standards Act 2000.

2. The new Health Improvement and Protection Bill will underpin the statutory duty of quality in healthcare to which the NHS is already subject:

Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Act 2003

45 Quality in health care

(1) It is the duty of each NHS body to put and keep in place arrangements for the purpose of monitoring and improving the quality of health care provided by and for that body

(2) In this Part "health care" means -

(a) services provided to individuals for or in connection with the prevention, diagnosis or treatment of illness; and

(b) the promotion and protection of public health

3. 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 all hospital trusts have a Director of Infection Prevention and Control;
- 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.

4. For further media enquiries please contact Ben Lewis at Department of Health Media Centre on 020 7210 4990 or Claire Rich on 020 7210 5238.

GNNREF: 115453 - Issued by : DOH Press Office

• Additional
• References
• Citations