Hospital infection control still poor

10 Nov 05
The vast majority of NHS staff do not know who is responsible for eliminating hospital-acquired infections such as MRSA from their hospital, the results of a national survey have suggested.

11 November 2005

The vast majority of NHS staff do not know who is responsible for eliminating hospital-acquired infections such as MRSA from their hospital, the results of a national survey have suggested.

In October 2004, the chief medical officer called on NHS trusts to introduce a director of infection prevention and control, to spearhead the quest to eliminate HAIs.

However, a survey of more than 200 NHS trusts, conducted by the Patients Association, found that only 11% of infection control staff knew who their responsible board member was.

The survey also found that more than half of respondents in the English Southwest said their hospitals did not have access to 24 hours a day, seven days a week cleaning services.

Access to cleaners was also restricted in the Midlands, where only 58% said full-time cleaning staff were on hand. The national access rate was 70%.

The National Patient Safety Agency recommends that clinical staff use disinfecting hand gels, but fewer than half of respondents said doctors in their hospital always did so. In London, the figure was less than one third.

Speaking at the launch of the survey, Simon Gillespie, head of operations at the Healthcare Commission, said that the results tallied with a series of 99 hospital spot checks the commission had undertaken in the summer. These results would be published soon.

Gillespie attended some of the inspections himself and commented: 'I came across things such as [antiseptic] gel dispensers that were empty, dispensers that were clogged and dispensers which fell off the wall if you touched them.'

Shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley called for the draft code of practice on infection control – published as part of the health protection Bill – to be toughened.

At present it 'does not do its job', said Lansley, as it does not legally require hospitals to have access to 24-hour cleaners, to appoint a responsible board member or to have a minimum ratio of infection control nurses.

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