2:00pm Wednesday 20th May 2009
By Emma Palmer
BASILDON Hospital has hit back at reports it is failing in the war on MRSA.
Hospital bosses have stressed they are meeting Government targets when it comes to eradicating the killer superbug – despite figures which appear to show otherwise.
Data released by the strategic health authority NHS East of England, reveal how many hospital trusts in the region have met the target of a maximum number of 12 MRSA patient cases a year.
It shows only Basildon, along with Peterborough, breached this figure with 13 cases each.
However hospital spokes- man Luenne Featherstone said this figure is being queried by the trust.
She said: “Over the past few years we achieved a significant reduction in MRSA and clostridium difficile.
“A national target was set for every hospital to reduce their number of MRSA bacteraemia infections by half from 2003/04 to 2008/2009.
“We surpassed our target which was 15 as we had 30 cases in 2003/04 with 13 positive MRSA tests in 2008/09.
“But the regional target for the past two years has been 12 and in 2007/08 we had nine.
“Although the figures show we missed the target this year, by one, we are querying this with the Department of Health, as two of the positive tests related to the same patient.”
She added how cases of C-Diff have also been halved.
She said: “Our C-Diff target in 2008/09, set regionally, was 143 cases. We recorded 103 cases, which is half the number of cases of the year before when there were 209.
“We are committed to ensuring this reduction in healthcare associated infections continues.”
She said robust procedures were in place to stop the spread of superbugs including restricting the use of certain antibiotics which kill off good bacterial in the gut allowing superbugs to thrive.
Bosses have also implemented an annual ward deep clean programme and are ensuring all patients with symptoms of a superbug are readmitted to, or moved from, a side room as soon as possible.
Overall, the figures show the number of people in hospital suffering from the superbug MRSA has been slashed by 37 per cent across the East of England – with cases dropping to 282 last year to 333 the previous year.
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