(c) MRSA Action UK 2011
Full copies of newsletters are sent to members each month. If you would like to know more about becoming a member please visit our membership page or contact us at info@mrsaactionuk.net
APRIL SUMMARY 2012
The Government is committed to a more central role for patients and the Prime Minister has announced that a new system of Patient-Led Inspections will replace Patient Environment Action Teams from 2013. The results of the new inspections will be reported publicly to help drive up standards of care.
This is an important development that we hope will provide public assurance and protection, to help restore public trust and confidence in the action being taken to prevent and control healthcare associated infections, in what should be a caring environment.
We believe a clean environment is important but should not be looked at in isolation. Staff attitudes and behaviours need to be considered. Targeted cleaning where high impact interventions could make a significant difference to the safety of the patients' environment should be undertaken. ATP testing using swabs of high touch areas, should be requested, before and after cleaning, you can't see bacteria or spores that may be harmful for the vulnerable patient. The halo effect will be present during inspections and as such there should be some consideration given to remote video auditing, you can observe staff behaviour and cameras need not be focused on patients, but you would see evidence of hand hygiene practice and the way staff clean an area, this is very effective and is being used in UK and US hospitals. We are asking for the opportunity to feed into the final guidance that comes from this exercise as this should be about real involvement, and prevention of infections should be high priority in giving safe care. More....
On Sunday 15 April 2012 Jules achieved a fantastic 4 hour 26 minute finish in the Brighton Marathon for MRSA Action UK
The Brighton Marathon had over 18,000 runners this year, and many charities were supported by the fantastic efforts of those taking part. For Julia Owen, aka Jules, this was a personal triumph as she completed the marathon in just 4 hours 26 minutes. More about Jules and Steve's achievements over the last year at http://mrsaactionuk.net/julesnsteve.html
Visit to Kings College Hospital
On the 4th April Derek Butler visited Kings College hospital after being invited to give a presentation to around 15 critical care nurses. Sharon Radway the Sister of the Surgical/Medical Critical Care Unit at Kings College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust sent the invitation after watching Derek give a presentation to staff from across the hospital trust in 2010 on World MRSA Day. Derek's Presentation looked to the future and why it was so important that we get things right now, and not leave future generations wondering why we did nothing when we had the chance. Derek left this thought in their minds "That all we have to remember is that the only requisite for healthcare infections to spread is that good people do nothing."
SAVE LIVES: Clean Your Hands - WHO's global annual campaign
5th May 2012
It's the World Health Organisation's Clean Your Hands Save Lives global campaign day next month. If you are visiting your local hospital, GP surgery or other care facility encourage the staff to join in by getting them to visit WHO's website with the campaign materials and details of their online webinar at http://www.who.int/gpsc/5may/en/
MRSA Action UK's Annual Memorial Event at Westminster Abbey will take place on Thursday 28th June 2012
We will meet at the West Gate of Westminster Abbey from 12 midday and then congregate at the Innocent Victims Memorial Stone for a service and laying of floral tributes at 1:00pm. This will be followed by a Reception with guest speakers at Westminster City Council Archive Centre from 2.00 - 5.00pm.
There will be opportunities for questions and to meet informally with guest speakers and colleagues from across healthcare and we very much look forward to meeting everyone who can attend. More....
If you are interested in reading more about the latest work of the charity then a copy of our newsletter is available on request.
The Government is committed to a more central role for patients and the Prime Minister has announced that a new system of Patient-Led Inspections will replace Patient Environment Action Teams from 2013. The results of the new inspections will be reported publicly to help drive up standards of care.
This is an important development that we hope will provide public assurance and protection, to help restore public trust and confidence in the action being taken to prevent and control healthcare associated infections, in what should be a caring environment.
We believe a clean environment is important but should not be looked at in isolation. Staff attitudes and behaviours need to be considered. Targeted cleaning where high impact interventions could make a significant difference to the safety of the patients' environment should be undertaken. ATP testing using swabs of high touch areas, should be requested, before and after cleaning, you can't see bacteria or spores that may be harmful for the vulnerable patient. The halo effect will be present during inspections and as such there should be some consideration given to remote video auditing, you can observe staff behaviour and cameras need not be focused on patients, but you would see evidence of hand hygiene practice and the way staff clean an area, this is very effective and is being used in UK and US hospitals. We are asking for the opportunity to feed into the final guidance that comes from this exercise as this should be about real involvement, and prevention of infections should be high priority in giving safe care. More....
On Sunday 15 April 2012 Jules achieved a fantastic 4 hour 26 minute finish in the Brighton Marathon for MRSA Action UK
The Brighton Marathon had over 18,000 runners this year, and many charities were supported by the fantastic efforts of those taking part. For Julia Owen, aka Jules, this was a personal triumph as she completed the marathon in just 4 hours 26 minutes. More about Jules and Steve's achievements over the last year at http://mrsaactionuk.net/julesnsteve.html
Visit to Kings College Hospital
On the 4th April Derek Butler visited Kings College hospital after being invited to give a presentation to around 15 critical care nurses. Sharon Radway the Sister of the Surgical/Medical Critical Care Unit at Kings College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust sent the invitation after watching Derek give a presentation to staff from across the hospital trust in 2010 on World MRSA Day. Derek's Presentation looked to the future and why it was so important that we get things right now, and not leave future generations wondering why we did nothing when we had the chance. Derek left this thought in their minds "That all we have to remember is that the only requisite for healthcare infections to spread is that good people do nothing."
SAVE LIVES: Clean Your Hands - WHO's global annual campaign
5th May 2012
It's the World Health Organisation's Clean Your Hands Save Lives global campaign day next month. If you are visiting your local hospital, GP surgery or other care facility encourage the staff to join in by getting them to visit WHO's website with the campaign materials and details of their online webinar at http://www.who.int/gpsc/5may/en/
MRSA Action UK's Annual Memorial Event at Westminster Abbey will take place on Thursday 28th June 2012
We will meet at the West Gate of Westminster Abbey from 12 midday and then congregate at the Innocent Victims Memorial Stone for a service and laying of floral tributes at 1:00pm. This will be followed by a Reception with guest speakers at Westminster City Council Archive Centre from 2.00 - 5.00pm.
There will be opportunities for questions and to meet informally with guest speakers and colleagues from across healthcare and we very much look forward to meeting everyone who can attend. More....
If you are interested in reading more about the latest work of the charity then a copy of our newsletter is available on request.
JANUARY SUMMARY 2012
Our Charity has entered the New Year running with the accreditation of the Information Standard. We would like to take the opportunity to thank those who helped us achieve this accreditation, including the staff who work in infection prevention and control who gave up their time to help with their knowledge and expertise in reviewing our information. To achieve the Department of Health's Information Standard, we have worked with the public, medical staff and infection control specialists in the NHS and members of our organisation to ensure we attain the highest levels of professionalism and standards in our efforts to educate, inform and to give factual, reliable, impartial, informative, well-resourced and referenced information. Equally important, is that it is easily understood by whoever is seeking help, such as those who come to us for the facts around avoidable healthcare infections. We have always believed that the fight against avoidable healthcare infections is a partnership effort, involving all those that come into contact with the NHS including the public, patients and their families, healthcare staff, Government and the media.
There are a number of conferences and projects which we are involved in throughout the year, and our champion runners Julia and Steve Owen have a programme of events to keep them busy. Our thanks go out to all those who have helped, or are helping to raise funds for our Charity and we know that both with their help we will again have a successful year in campaigning to keep Infection Prevention and Control at the top of everyone's agenda.
Our Charity has entered the New Year running with the accreditation of the Information Standard. We would like to take the opportunity to thank those who helped us achieve this accreditation, including the staff who work in infection prevention and control who gave up their time to help with their knowledge and expertise in reviewing our information. To achieve the Department of Health's Information Standard, we have worked with the public, medical staff and infection control specialists in the NHS and members of our organisation to ensure we attain the highest levels of professionalism and standards in our efforts to educate, inform and to give factual, reliable, impartial, informative, well-resourced and referenced information. Equally important, is that it is easily understood by whoever is seeking help, such as those who come to us for the facts around avoidable healthcare infections. We have always believed that the fight against avoidable healthcare infections is a partnership effort, involving all those that come into contact with the NHS including the public, patients and their families, healthcare staff, Government and the media.
There are a number of conferences and projects which we are involved in throughout the year, and our champion runners Julia and Steve Owen have a programme of events to keep them busy. Our thanks go out to all those who have helped, or are helping to raise funds for our Charity and we know that both with their help we will again have a successful year in campaigning to keep Infection Prevention and Control at the top of everyone's agenda.
SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER SUMMARY 2011
It has been a busy two months for the charity, especially with it being the golden anniversary year for MRSA and its publication in the British Medical Journal. MRSA was discovered under the microscope on October 2nd by the late Professor Patricia Jevons in 1960, knowledge of its significance was published in 1961.
We have had a lot of contact with healthcare providers from around the country wishing us to be involved in their Infection Prevention training, and we had the opportunity to meet people at the Infection Prevention Society annual conference in Bournemouth this year. This was made possible by Molnlycke Healthcare who sponsored our attendance, for which we thank them. More....
As November 18th and European Antibiotic Awareness Day approaches, we will work to help in this campaign to remind everyone of their responsibility to use our resource of antibiotics judiciously. Our patient stories are reminders of why we need to preserve this precious resource and keep our eye on the radar for emerging threats from resistant pathogens. We have lost family and friends to MRSA, which we know could have been avoided in many cases. The result of the evolution of MRSA and other resistant pathogens means its harder to treat patients who succumb to infections. Putting resources into education and research to identify solutions to antibiotic resistance is vital. The human cost to society is too great a price to pay not to.
We featured on the BBC news this month when Ben Ando interviewed Derek Butler about the innovative use of copper at Trafford Hospital. Copper has antimicrobial properties that make it difficult for microbes to survive on the surface, helping to reduce the bio burden on high-touch surfaces. More.....
If you are interested in reading more about the latest work of the charity then a copy of our newsletter is available on request.
It has been a busy two months for the charity, especially with it being the golden anniversary year for MRSA and its publication in the British Medical Journal. MRSA was discovered under the microscope on October 2nd by the late Professor Patricia Jevons in 1960, knowledge of its significance was published in 1961.
We have had a lot of contact with healthcare providers from around the country wishing us to be involved in their Infection Prevention training, and we had the opportunity to meet people at the Infection Prevention Society annual conference in Bournemouth this year. This was made possible by Molnlycke Healthcare who sponsored our attendance, for which we thank them. More....
As November 18th and European Antibiotic Awareness Day approaches, we will work to help in this campaign to remind everyone of their responsibility to use our resource of antibiotics judiciously. Our patient stories are reminders of why we need to preserve this precious resource and keep our eye on the radar for emerging threats from resistant pathogens. We have lost family and friends to MRSA, which we know could have been avoided in many cases. The result of the evolution of MRSA and other resistant pathogens means its harder to treat patients who succumb to infections. Putting resources into education and research to identify solutions to antibiotic resistance is vital. The human cost to society is too great a price to pay not to.
We featured on the BBC news this month when Ben Ando interviewed Derek Butler about the innovative use of copper at Trafford Hospital. Copper has antimicrobial properties that make it difficult for microbes to survive on the surface, helping to reduce the bio burden on high-touch surfaces. More.....
If you are interested in reading more about the latest work of the charity then a copy of our newsletter is available on request.
AUGUST SUMMARY 2011
We continue to be busy with invitations to participate in sharing best practice and helping colleagues in health and social care, including Blackpool Victoria Hospital and Hyndburn Homes in Lancashire. We have also had requests for contributions to reviews and the NICE guidance on healthcare associated infections.
As always thanks to everyone who continue to support us, including Jules and Steve who are having a well-earned break this month, and Angie Kelly who organised and took part in the walk in Macclesfield Forest on Saturday 20th August in memory of her dear brother, and former Vice Chair Paul Kelly. Angie was joined by friends and family at the Leathers Smithy to celebrate Paul's life and sent some nice photos to commemorate the day. Other events can be found on the record of events page. If you would like a full copy of the newsletter then please email us to find out more about how you can become involved.
Walk in Macclesfield Forest in memory of Paul Kelly
We continue to be busy with invitations to participate in sharing best practice and helping colleagues in health and social care, including Blackpool Victoria Hospital and Hyndburn Homes in Lancashire. We have also had requests for contributions to reviews and the NICE guidance on healthcare associated infections.
As always thanks to everyone who continue to support us, including Jules and Steve who are having a well-earned break this month, and Angie Kelly who organised and took part in the walk in Macclesfield Forest on Saturday 20th August in memory of her dear brother, and former Vice Chair Paul Kelly. Angie was joined by friends and family at the Leathers Smithy to celebrate Paul's life and sent some nice photos to commemorate the day. Other events can be found on the record of events page. If you would like a full copy of the newsletter then please email us to find out more about how you can become involved.
Walk in Macclesfield Forest in memory of Paul Kelly
Angie Kelly complete's her walk in Macclesfield Forest with friends and family in memory of her brother Paul, more.........
To support Angie visit her Just Giving page:
http://www.justgiving.com/Paul-David-Kelly
In memory of Paul
http://www.justgiving.com/Paul-David-Kelly
In memory of Paul
