Overseas Help to Fight UK Superbugs

July 12, 2004

Experts from abroad are to be flown into the UK to help the NHS in its battle against the hospital "superbugs", the Health Secretary says.

Amid growing pressure on the Government to act, John Reid published plans to cut hospital acquired infections, like the potentially fatal MRSA, and improve hygiene standards.

Dr Reid said he also wanted every hospital in England to publish and display its own infection rates so patients can make informed decisions about the place where they are treated.

The document - Towards Cleaner Hospitals and Lower Rates of Infection - came as the National Audit Office prepared to publish a progress report on how hospitals have tackled infections following its major study of four years ago.

Hospital-acquired infections strike some 100,000 people each year in England, resulting in an estimated 5,000 deaths.

MRSA, or methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus, first appeared in the 1960s but has reached epidemic levels in the last few years.

Some strains of the bug are resistant to almost all known antibiotics, and fighting it already costs the NHS an estimated £1 billion a year.

Dr Reid admitted that hospital bugs were a serious and increasing concern in England's hospitals.

He said he was setting new targets for every NHS trust to reduce MRSA rates year on year.

Trusts judged by the health service watchdog the Healthcare Commission to be performing badly will have to produce an action plan for improvement and face further inspections.

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