DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
News Release issued by COI News Distribution Service. 18 September 2008
Health Secretary
Alan Johnson has paid tribute to NHS staff for their significant
success in going beyond the Government's target of halving
MRSA blood stream infections across England.
The latest quarterly figures on MRSA bloodstream infections,
published by the Health Protection Agency today, show that the
number of MRSA infections has fallen by 57% compared to the base
level in 2003/4 when the target was set.
The figures show that the risk of becoming infected with an MRSA
bacteraemia is at its lowest for 5 years. This has been achieved
by a package of measures including higher standards of clinical
practice and cleanliness, an increase in matrons and hospital deep cleans.
Alan Johnson said;
"Our strategy for tackling infection is clearly delivering
results and the NHS continues to work hard to ensure hospitals are
clean and safe for patients. But we are certainly not complacent
and we won't stop here. Healthcare associated infections
present a huge challenge to health services across the world and
we will continue to do all we can to tackle them.
"Hand hygiene, high standards of cleanliness, bare below the
elbows, deep clean of hospitals and screening patients for MRSA
are all vital elements of our strategy, so too is sensible use of
antibiotics. But now we are stepping up a level and looking
increasingly towards technology and design to play its part in the
fight against infection which is why I am delighted to be
launching the 'Showcase Hospital' scheme.
"There were those who said our MRSA target was completely
unachievable and it was certainly very challenging. But it is the
tremendous efforts of NHS staff that has achieved this significant
reduction, resulting in real improvements to patient care."
Alan Johnson spoke whilst meeting infection control nurses and
other staff at one of the new 'Showcase Hospitals',
Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust in London. Run by the NHS
Purchasing and Supply Agency, the Showcase Hospitals scheme
consists of seven hospitals that will trial new and innovative
products to further reduce and prevent healthcare associated infections.
The seven new showcase hospitals are just one way that will
enable the NHS to sustain the reduction in MRSA infections. The
NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency are also launching the Design
Bugs Out project. Top designers have been challenged to design new
furniture, equipment and services for hospital wards that will
enhance cleanliness and help to reduce healthcare associated infections.
Paul Cryer, Programme Manager of the HCAI Technology Innovation
Programme, which runs the Showcase Hospitals said;
"We know that the basic ways of preventing and reducing
HCAIs are largely unchanging, with measures such as remorseless
hand washing making a huge difference. But new technologies and
equipment can help us tackle things better and so help to reduce
HCAIs more quickly.
"The HCAI Technology Innovation Programme, funded by the
Department of Health, aims to speed up the development and
introduction of technologies to help combat infections and improve cleanliness."
The Government will now work with the NHS to sustain this
reduction in MRSA infections, as well as delivering a 30%
reduction in C. difficile in the next three years. The Department
of Health is investing £270 million per year by 2010/11 in
improving infection prevention and control - this includes
stringent hand-washing guidance for the NHS, clear guidance on
appropriate antibiotic prescribing and the clinical care of
patients with healthcare associated infections.
NOTES TO EDITORS
1. The national MRSA target was announced by John Reid, the then
Secretary of State, in November 2004. To meet the target the NHS
had to halve the number of MRSA blood stream infections. The
baseline for the target is the quarterly average for the year
2003/4 - this was 1,925. The NHS had until the end of March 2008
to reach this target. Success was measured by looking at the
quarter following the deadline (ie April - June 08). To meet the
target the NHS had to reduce the number of cases to less than 963.
The latest HPA figures for this quarter show the number of cases
has dropped to 836. This represents a reduction of 57%.
2. The MRSA target is measured against data from this quarter
(Apr-Jun 08). We have looked at data for a complete quarter
following the target deadline to see whether the NHS has been able
to sustain the 50% reduction. The MRSA target is being measured in
line with other national NHS targets (eg A&E), which also
measure the period immediately after the deadline.
3. As part of the £270m CSR investment, £45m was identified for
investment in additional staff. It is for local organisations to
decide the best investment to meet their needs, but this level of
funding could, for example in each acute trust, two infection
control nurses, one pharmacist and two nurses to care for patients
in isolation, alongside additional infection control nurses in
every community.
4. We have in place a comprehensive strategy to tackle healthcare
associated infection. This includes:
* The number of matrons on our wards has increased to more than 5,000.
* We have issued best practice guidance to the NHS on antibiotic
prescribing, isolating patients and clinical techniques to
minimise the risk of infection along the patient journey.
* There are additional staff for the NHS such as infection
control nurses, antimicrobial pharmacists and nurses to care for
patients in isolation
* £50m has been made available to SHA Directors of Nursing in
2007/08 and the CSR funding settlement includes £270m per year by
2010/11 to tackle HCAIs
* A new bare below the elbows dress code has been introduced to
support the successful hand hygiene campaign
* We have improved cleanliness across the NHS. As of May 2008,
328 trusts have completed their deep clean programmes. Following
completion of this national deep clean programme, DH is working
with SHAs to disseminate learning and best practice to the local
NHS to enable them to determine the ongoing requirements for deep cleaning.
* Bespoke support to Trusts supplied by Department of Health
Improvement Team.
5. Seven Showcase Hospitals across England are testing new
infection beating products as part of the Showcase Hospitals
scheme led by NHS PASA. NHS PASA will then work with hospitals to
make the successful products widely available across the NHS as
quickly as possible.
The Showcase Hospitals Programme is part of the wider HCAI
Technology Programme which aims to:
- help identify the kinds of technology that the NHS needs;
- show how certain technologies add more clinical value at the front-line;
- get more value per NHS £ spent on HCAI related technologies;
- let the NHS better understand the broader evidence about how
and why some technologies are better than others.
The HCAI Technology Programme has been designed to accelerate the
development and adoption of new technologies into the NHS to help
fight infection. The Showcase Hospital component of the programme
takes technologies that have demonstrated they help reduce
infection and places them into 7 hospitals around the country to
evaluate how they work in practice and allow doctors and nurses to
see what they can do at first hand.
6. The technologies currently being tested are:
* Bardex IC - Bard - silver alloy coated hydrogel catheters.
These use silver to reduce bacteria that cause urinary tract infections
* ChloraPrep - Enturia Ltd.
Used for skin disinfection before skin is punctured.
Hydrogen Peroxide Vapour System - BIOQUELL
Highly effective in decontaminating enclosed rooms/units.
* Flexi-Seal (faecal management system) - ConvaTec.
A tube and collecting bag system for patients with severe diarrhoea.
* Zassi (bowel management system) - Hollister.
Similar in principle to Flexi-Seal but includes a facility to
dose antibiotics directly into the bowel.
* Clean-Trace Hygiene Monitoring System - 3M
A testing system which can detect in seconds whether surfaces and
equipment are sufficiently clean.
7. The seven Showcase Hospitals are;
* Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust
* Central Manchester Children's University Hospitals NHS Trust
* County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust
* Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust
* The Lewisham Hospital NHS Trust
* The Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals NHS Trust
* Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust
8. More information can be found at; http://www.clean-safe-care.nhs.uk
9. NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency, an executive agency of the
Department of Health, works to ensure that the NHS in England
makes the most effective use of its resources by getting the best
possible value for money when purchasing goods and services - http://www.pasa.nhs.uk.
10. The Design Council has been commissioned to engage with some
of the most talented designers to develop and manage the
'Design Bugs Out' programme. This will involve creating
10 better designs for critical hospital equipment and furniture
which have historically proved hard to clean effectively and where
redesign will not only make them easier to clean but where we can
incorporate new modern easy-clean. These 10 new designs will be
available by March next year.