Twice as many people die of superbugs in dirty hospitals than die on British rods

The labour government seems to be surprisingly reticent in publicising the fact that twice as many people die in the UK from picking up lethal "superbugs" in dirty hospitals as die on the country's roads. Two abridged reports follow to confirm the statistics:

MRSA
The National Audit Office- parliament's independent government overseer-
In it's Report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, on 14 July 2004 reports that:

There has been notable progress at trust level in putting systems and processes in place and strengthening infection control teams to improve the prevention and control of hospital acquired infection, but the NHS still does not have enough information on the extent and cost of hospital acquired infection. These are the principal findings of a National Audit Office report, examining progress since the NAO’s last report four years ago and against subsequent recommendations by the Public Accounts Committee.

In its original February 2000 report, the NAO noted that hospital-acquired infections were each year costing the NHS around £1 billion and resulting in at least 5,000 deaths. According to today’s report, these are still the best estimates available, although the Office for National Statistics estimated that MRSA alone was mentioned in 800 death certificates in 2002. Because of the complexities involved in identifying costs, few trusts have attempted to calculate their own costs nor have any attempts been made to refine or validate the cost estimate as stated in the original NAO report. Other countries have also had difficulties in evaluating the economic impact of hospital acquired infection.

Increased demands on infection control teams, with more surveillance and external inspections, has meant that there remains a mismatch between expectations placed on the teams and resources allocated to them. The increased throughput of patients has generally resulted in higher levels of bed occupancy – which complicates good infection control and bed management practices. Some trusts are also concerned about the lack of suitable isolation facilities, the increased frequency with which patients are moved within hospitals and the fact that there are not enough beds to separate elective and trauma patients.

The continuing problem of increasing antibiotic resistance and the emergence of strains of multi-resistant bacteria have increased the complexity of managing and controlling infection. The Department of Health’s mandatory MRSA reporting system has revealed an 8 per cent increase in the number of Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infections from 17,933 in 2001-02 to 19,311 in 2003-04. Of these, about 40 per cent are MRSA, making the UK’s rate among the worst in Europe.

Even though the profile of hospital acquired infection is increasing and guidelines on the measures required to contain the problem have been published, there continues to be non-compliance with good infection control practices. Hospital-acquired infection is still perceived as a problem for the infection control team alone and not enough staff accept personal responsibility for this issue.

In consequence, many of the barriers to effective infection control practice which the NAO identified in its original report still apply. Considerable improvements could therefore still be made in the following areas: the coverage of education and training in infection control to all groups of staff, particularly doctors; compliance with guidance on issues such as on hand hygiene, catheter care and aseptic technique; antibiotic prescribing in hospitals; hospital cleanliness; and consultation with the infection control team on wider trust activities such as new build projects.

The full report can be found at:
http://www.nao.org.uk/pn/03-04/0304876.htm

ROAD CASUALTIES GREAT BRITAIN 2003: ANNUAL REPORT
The Department for Transport has published National Statistics on road casualties in Great Britain for 2003:

It contains final figures giving detailed information on the number of people killed and injured on the roads in Great Britain in 2003, based on information about accidents reported to the police.
Key points are:

* 3,508 people were killed on Britain's roads in 2003, 2 per cent more than in 2002. The number of people seriously injured fell to 33,707, 6 per cent lower than in 2002. Total casualties in 2003 were 290,607, 4 percent fewer than in 2002;

* 8 fewer children were killed on the roads in 2003 than in 2002, a fall of 4 per cent. The total number of children killed or seriously injured fell by 11 per cent;

* Provisional estimates indicate that the number of deaths in accidents involving drink driving was 2 per cent higher than in 2002. Final estimates will be available next year. Total casualties in drink drive accidents fell by an estimated 5 per cent;

* Pedestrian casualties fell by 6 per cent between 2002 and 2003 and the number of killed or seriously injured pedestrians was down 8 per cent. 13 per cent of all road accident casualties and 22 per cent of those who died in road accidents were pedestrians;

* In 2003, the number of casualties among users of two wheeled motor vehicles rose slightly compared with 2002 and the number of deaths rose by 14 per cent to 693. Serious injuries rose by 1 per cent. However, the overall casualty rate per hundred million vehicle kilometres fell by 9 per cent because of increases in traffic;

* Pedal cyclist casualties fell slightly. The number of cyclists killed or seriously injured fell by 2 per cent overall, and the number of fatalities fell by 12 per cent. Pedal cyclist casualty rates per hundred million vehicle kilometres also fell and are now at the lowest for more than 10 years.

The report provides more detailed information about accident circumstances, vehicle involvement and the consequent casualties in 2003, along with some of the key trends in accidents and casualties.

News Release 2004/0125: 30 September 2004

The Department of Transport report can be found at:
http://www.dft.gov.uk/pns/displaypn.cgi?pn_id=2004_0125