raising public awareness - campaigning for safer standards
supporting sufferers and dependants

Telephone: 07762 741114 / 01337 841098
email: INFO@MRSAACTIONUK.NET

Introduction 

Healthcare infections are a significant cause of distress to patients, their families and NHS staff.  Occasionally the action that healthcare workers take to help people sometimes results in unintended harm.  It is also increasingly a key issue for public confidence in the NHS.  No healthcare system can ever be entirely risk free, but we must do more to reduce the rate of healthcare associated infections. (1)

 

'The term 'Health Care Associated Infections' encompasses any infection by any infectious agent acquired as a consequence of a person's treatment by healthcare workers or which is acquired by a healthcare worker in the course of their duties.  The prevention and control of healthcare associated infections is a high priority for all parts of the NHS.  It is of equal importance for health care providers in the independent and voluntary sectors.' (2)

 

'MRSA stands for meticillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus.  It is a highly contagious strain of the Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, which cause a number of infections, some of which are serious.  The reason that MRSA is such a problem for hospitals and care homes - and why it has become known as a superbug - is that it is resistant to common antibiotics.' (3)

 

'Tackling safety issues, cleanliness and infection control is the responsibility of everyone who comes into contact with the NHS - from visitors to managers to nurses to surgeons...

Action to tackle healthcare associated infections include:

• a 'bare below the elbows' dress code to improve the quality of hand washing
• new guidance on isolating infection patients
• extension of the NPSA's cleanyourhands campaign to care settings outside hospitals
• a new legal requirement on chief executives, backed by fines, to report MRSA and C. difficile infections to the Health Protection Agency
• a deep clean of all hospital wards as part of the drive for a culture of cleanliness
• 50 million pounds available for Strategic Health Authority Directors of Nursing to spend on tackling healthcare associated infections
• doubled the size of the expert improvement team
• quarterly reporting to trust boards by matrons and clinical directors on infection control and cleanliness
• a new health and adult social care regulator with tough powers, backed by fines, to inspect, investigate and intervene where hospitals are failing to meet hygiene and infection control standards
• annual infection control inspections of all acute trusts using teams of specialist inspectors
• MRSA screening for all elective admissions from 1 April 2009, and for all emergency admissions as soon as practicable within the next 3 years
• looking into ways of building financial penalties or rewards into the commissioning process linked to providers' performance in terms of HCAIs and cleanliness' (4)

KEY FACTS AND FIGURES

Dr Foster health guides provide the most comprehensive information available online about UK hospitals, consultants, procedures, maternity units, as well as a medical dictionary.

 

MRSA Action UK is pleased to publish Dr Foster's Infection Control Feature highlighting key facts and figures about infection prevention and control, relevant legislation and codes of practice, all within the context of the latest regulations and Care Quality Commission's inspection and enforcement remit.  It is every health professional's and patient's guide to healthcare in UK hospitals, with comprehensive information on performance.  A downloadable version is available here. (PDF 499KB)

GUIDANCE & TOOLS

Department of Health

• The Health and Social Care Act 2008: Code of Practice for the NHS on the prevention and control of healthcare associated infections and related guidance (23 January 2009)
• MRSA screening: operational guidance (Dear colleague letter, 31 July 2008)
• Clean, safe care: reducing infections and saving lives. (9 January 2008)
• PL CNO (2007) 7: National confidential study of deaths following meticillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection (Dear colleague letter, 8 November 2007)
• MRSA equality impact assessment: halving MRSA bacteraemia by 2008 (27 September 2007)
• Uniforms and workwear: an evidence base for developing local policy (17 September 2007)
• Saving lives: reducing infection, delivering clean and safe care (Provides the tools and resources for implementing the Health Act code of practice; should be read in conjunction with further information on the Delivering clean and safe care pages.) (21 June 2007)
• Clean, safe care: reducing MRSA and other healthcare associated infections: a national update (12 June 2007)
• Essential steps to safe, clean care: reducing healthcare-associated infections (15 June 2006)
• Self assessment tools: the delivery programme to reduce healthcare associated infections including MRSA (15 June 2006)
• Going further faster: implementing the Saving Lives delivery programme: sustainable change for cleaner, safer care (9 May 2006)
• Going further faster: a pocket guide for chief executives and boards: meeting the MRSA target and increasing productivity (9 May 2006)
• HCAI productivity tool: an Excel spreadsheet to help trusts understand the impact that HCAI (healthcare associated infection) has on trust business (9 May 2006)
• PL CMO (2006) 2: reporting MRSA data: overview of arrangements (Professional letter, 30 March 2006)
• Request to directors of infection prevention and control in all NHS trusts (including foundation trusts): MRSA (Dear colleague letter, 16 December 2005)
• PL CMO (2005) 4: mandatory surveillance of Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) bacteraemias (Professional letter, 9 June 2005)

Health Protection Agency

Healthcare associated infections: general information: healthcare associated infections: what are they and why do they occur? (Reviewed 13 February 2007)

 

British Medical Association

Healthcare associated infections: a guide for healthcare professionals: September 2007 update (September 2007)

Healthcare associated infections, a guide for healthcare professionals -
Board of Science, British Medical Association  2006
 (February 2006)

 

Hospital Infection Society

Coia, J.E. et al. Guidelines for the control and prevention of meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in healthcare facilities Journal of Hospital Infection 2006; 63S: S1-S44 (July 2006)

 

epic (Evidence based Practice in Infection Control)

Pratt, R.J. et al. epic2: national evidence-based guidelines for preventing healthcare-associated infections in NHS hospitals in England Journal of Hospital Infection 2007; 65S: S1-S64

 

National Patient Safety Agency

Infection control: learning through action to reduce infection (Last updated October 2007)

 

National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence

Infection control, prevention of healthcare-associated infection in primary and community care (June 2003)

Prevention and treatment of surgical site infection (October 2008)

 

Royal College of Nursing

Minimum standards for infection control (April 2005)

REPORTS AND CONSULTATION DOCUMENTS

• Changes to arrangements for regulating NHS bodies in relation to healthcare associated infections for 2009/10: a consultation for the NHS (Department of Health, 11 August 2008; consultation closes on 20 October 2008)
• Healthcare-associated infections (King's Fund, 7 July 2008)
• Deaths involving MRSA [Series of information products.] (National Statistics, 21 May 2008)
• MRSA: deaths related to MRSA stabilise in 2006 (National Statistics, 28 February 2008)
• MRSA: separating fact from fiction : the role of treatment within MRSA management (The MRSA Working Group, 2008)
• Hospital organisation, speciality mix and MRSA (Department of Health, 18 December 2007)
• The NHS in England: the operating framework for 2008/09 (Department of Health, 13 December 2007)
• National confidential study of deaths following Meticillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) infection (Health Protection Agency and National Statistics, November 2007)
• Surveillance of Healthcare Associated Infections Report 2007 (Health Protection Agency, October 2007)
• 'A safe NHS', chapter 7, pp. 42-45, from Our NHS, our future: NHS next stage review interim report (Department of Health, October 2007)
• Healthcare associated infection: what else can the NHS do? (Summary available separately) (Healthcare Commission, July 2007)
• MRSA: Learning from the Best conference (Department of Health, modified 26 March 2007)
• Third prevalence survey of HCAIs in acute hospitals: results for England (Hospital Infection Society, 9 March 2007)
• Healthcare associated infections in renal medicine (Reports of a one-day conference, modified 8 February 2007, Department of Health)
• Deaths involving MRSA (Office for National Statistics, 1993- , latest update February 2007)
• Segmenting NHS staff: towards a strategy for HCAI intervention: final report (Dr Foster Intelligence, 31 May 2006)
• National survey of NHS staff: Q29-Q34: harassment, bullying, violence and infection control/hygiene (Healthcare Commission, March 2006)
• The infection control IT implementation and evaluation project. (Health Protection Agency, 22 December 2005)
• Surveillance of surgical site infection in orthopaedic surgery: mandatory surveillance of surgical site infection in orthopaedic surgery: report of data collected between April 2004 and March 2005 (Health Protection Agency, 28 October 2005)
• MRSA (King's Fund, 1 April 2005)
• Hospital contract cleaning and infection control. (Unison, January 2005)
• Improving patient care by reducing the risk of hospital acquired infection: a progress report. (National Audit Office, 14 July 2004)

WEB SITES

Clean, Safe Care (NHS)

Cleanyourhands campaign (National Patient Safety Agency)

epic (Evidence based Practice in Infection Control) (Thames Valley University)

Healthcare Associated Infections (Health Protection Agency)

Hospital Infection Society

Infection A2Z (Community Practitioners' and Health Visitors' Association)

Infection Prevention Society

MRSA Action UK

National electronic Library of Infection

National Patient Safety Agency

Staphylococcus aureus (Health Protection Agency)

Towards cleaner hospitals and lower rates of infection programme (Department of Health)

PARLIAMENTARY REPORTS:

Health care-acquired infections (House of Commons Hansard debates, 23 January 2007)

Speech by Jane Kennedy MP, Minister of State for Quality and Patient Safety: public health/public confidence: progess in tackling MRSA and other HCAIs (Department of Health, 8 February 2006)

'Part 2: prevention and control of health care associated infections' in Health Act 2006: chapter 28. (Office of Public Sector Information, 19 July 2006)

Improving patient care by reducing the risk of hospital acquired infection: a progress report (House of Commons Committee of Public Accounts, 23 June 2005)

ONLINE ARTICLES:

Harbarth, Stephan et al. Universal screening for Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus at hospital admission and nosocomial infection in surgical patients Jama 2008; 299 (10): 1149-1157 (12 March 2008) (short version)

Moberly, Tom. Can pharmacists help to cut infections? Pharmaceutical Journal 2007; 279 (7464): 149-150 (11 August 2007)

Office for National Statistics. Report: deaths involving MRSA England and Wales, 2001-2005. Health Statistics Quarterly 2007; 33: 76-81 (Spring 2007)

Nicolle, Lindsay. Community-acquired MRSA: a practitioner's guide CMAJ 2006; 175 (2) (27 June 2006)

Wyllie, David H. et al. Mortality after Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia in two hospitals in Oxfordshire, 1997-2003: cohort study BMJ 2006; 333: 281 (23 June 2006)

Spiegelhalter, David J. Problems in assessing rates of infection with methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus BMJ 2005; 331: 1013-1015 (29 October 2005)

Wyllie, David H. et al. MRSA bacteraemia in patients on arrival in hospital: a cohort study in Oxfordshire 1997-2003. BMJ 2005; 331: 992 (29 October 2005)

Storr, Julie and Hookway, Julia. Preventing infection in hospital: should patient involvement be central to current hand hygiene strategies? Clinical Governance Bulletin 2005; 5 (5): 6-8 (January 2005)

Cooper, B.S. et al. Isolation measures in the hospital management of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA): systematic review of the literature. BMJ 2004; 329: 533 (4 September 2005)

REFERENCES

1. The NHS in England: the operating framework for 2008/09. (Department of Health, 13 December 2007)

2. The Health Act 2006: code of practice for the prevention and control of health care associated infections. (Department of Health, 11 January 2008)

3. A simple guide to MRSA. (Department of Health, 16 July 2007)

4. Our NHS, our future: NHS next stage review interim report. (Department of Health, 4 October 2007)