Superbug test for hospital patients

PATIENTS at the Royal Oldham Hospital will be screened for the potentially deadly hospital bug MRSA from the end of this month.

The move is in line with national guidelines and will be introduced at all four hospitals within the Pennine Acute Trust which includes Rochdale Infirmary, North Manchester General and Fairfield Hospital in Bury.

The move comes as the trust revealed a significant drop in MRSA cases, from 23 in 2007, to nine in 2008.

Vic Crumbleholme, associate director of nursing, said: “The performance of our staff in combating MRSA has at times been unbeatable and this is especially the case at Royal Oldham.

“Earlier this year the hospital went 100 days without a case of MRSA which is a fantastic tribute to staff and visitors. However, the trust will not be complacent with the success it has achieved and will continue to do everything possible to prevent further infections.”

Cases of community-acquired MRSA in Oldham have also halved with just two cases in 2007-08, and one case to date since April last year.

Shauna Dixon, director of clinical leadership for NHS Oldham, said: “The very small numbers of community-acquired MRSA in Oldham are largely due to extensive work over a number of years to make sure our health workers are trained in best practice around infection control and prevention.”

Nationally, figures show MRSA cases in England have fallen 7 per cent in the last quarter.
Data from the Health Protection Agency (HPA) showed there were 676 cases reported between October and December, 2008.

This represents a 7 per cent decrease on the previous quarter (July to September, 2008), when 725 cases were reported.

The latest quarterly figures are also a 38 per cent reduction on the same quarter in 2007, when there were 1,092 cases of MRSA.

An HPA spokeswoman said: “This continued reduction is testament to the huge efforts being made across the NHS.

Independent health watchdog The Healthcare Commission praised the progress. Marcia Fry, head of operational development said: “The NHS is turning a corner in terms of MRSA.

But she warned: “All NHS trusts must maintain this tight control and ensure that they are tackling every infection as vigorously.”