Ministers bury report on MRSA, C Difficile superbugs
Once again Health Direct learns that labour's ridiculous health targets are resulting in many NHS patients having an early death and or unnecessarily pain. The Financial Times discovered that there is a direct correlation between be occupancy rates and incidents of patients contracting MRSA, C Difficile and other superbugs.
Why have ministers been sitting on a report that shows a dramatic link between outbreaks of hospital superbugs and high levels of bed occupancy?
The Financial Times understands that a report, commissioned by the Department of Health and based on research covering every hospital in England, reveals that MRSA rates are a staggering 42 per cent higher in hospitals with bed occupancy rates of 90 per cent or more than in those with occupancy rates below 85 per cent.
In hospitals where bed occupancy rates are 85-90 per cent, infection rates are 16 per cent higher. In spite of rising public anxiety about hospital infections, I am told that this research, which covered 2001-02 to 2002-03, has been gathering dust for more than two years.
Had ministers acted on the research instead of suppressing it, lives might have been saved – not least in hospitals run by the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells Trust, where superbugs killed at least 90 patients. In a damning report on the Maidstone tragedy last week, the Healthcare Commission blamed “pressure on beds” and the trust’s desire to meet government targets.
Why is high bed occupancy directly linked to infection rates? Because it means that often there is not enough time to clean beds properly – sometimes the sheets are not even changed.
At Maidstone, nurses told patients with diarrhoea to “go in the bed” and then left some for hours in soiled sheets. If beds were cleaned superficially afterwards, it is little wonder so many died.
Crucially, the report indicates that there is no link between infection rates and bed occupancy provided the levels are below 85 per cent.
The pity is that in the past five years, with the labour government using targets to press hospitals into cutting waiting times and improving financial performance, the proportion of hospitals with more than 90 per cent bed occupancy has risen from 13 per cent to 20 per cent.
Had ministers not suppressed this report, might not some National Health Service trusts have thought twice about increasing patient throughput?
There are all the hallmarks here of labour ministers trying to cover up inconvenient truths.
Public discussion of the report might have forced them to take a more flexible approach to NHS targets. There is talk of bringing criminal charges against the Maidstone NHS Trust.
Perhaps the police should widen their inquiries to find out what ministers knew about superbugs and whether they gave adequate support and information to health workers on the ground.
From:
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/60794692-7c2f-11dc-be7e-0000779fd2ac.html
Health Direct continues the Police investigation point. In Superbug hospital may face criminal charges over 331 C difficle deaths on Fri 12 Oct 2007 we noted that hospital managers could face criminal prosecution for the worst ever recorded outbreaks of the superbug Clostridium difficile which killed at least 90 patients.
Inadequate staffing levels, dirty wards and too much focus on cost-cutting and government targets contributed to two serious outbreaks of C difficile in as many years at Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust, an investigation by the Healthcare Commission found.
Why have ministers been sitting on a report that shows a dramatic link between outbreaks of hospital superbugs and high levels of bed occupancy?
The Financial Times understands that a report, commissioned by the Department of Health and based on research covering every hospital in England, reveals that MRSA rates are a staggering 42 per cent higher in hospitals with bed occupancy rates of 90 per cent or more than in those with occupancy rates below 85 per cent.
In hospitals where bed occupancy rates are 85-90 per cent, infection rates are 16 per cent higher. In spite of rising public anxiety about hospital infections, I am told that this research, which covered 2001-02 to 2002-03, has been gathering dust for more than two years.
Had ministers acted on the research instead of suppressing it, lives might have been saved – not least in hospitals run by the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells Trust, where superbugs killed at least 90 patients. In a damning report on the Maidstone tragedy last week, the Healthcare Commission blamed “pressure on beds” and the trust’s desire to meet government targets.
Why is high bed occupancy directly linked to infection rates? Because it means that often there is not enough time to clean beds properly – sometimes the sheets are not even changed.
At Maidstone, nurses told patients with diarrhoea to “go in the bed” and then left some for hours in soiled sheets. If beds were cleaned superficially afterwards, it is little wonder so many died.
Crucially, the report indicates that there is no link between infection rates and bed occupancy provided the levels are below 85 per cent.
The pity is that in the past five years, with the labour government using targets to press hospitals into cutting waiting times and improving financial performance, the proportion of hospitals with more than 90 per cent bed occupancy has risen from 13 per cent to 20 per cent.
Had ministers not suppressed this report, might not some National Health Service trusts have thought twice about increasing patient throughput?
There are all the hallmarks here of labour ministers trying to cover up inconvenient truths.
Public discussion of the report might have forced them to take a more flexible approach to NHS targets. There is talk of bringing criminal charges against the Maidstone NHS Trust.
Perhaps the police should widen their inquiries to find out what ministers knew about superbugs and whether they gave adequate support and information to health workers on the ground.
From:
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/60794692-7c2f-11dc-be7e-0000779fd2ac.html
Health Direct continues the Police investigation point. In Superbug hospital may face criminal charges over 331 C difficle deaths on Fri 12 Oct 2007 we noted that hospital managers could face criminal prosecution for the worst ever recorded outbreaks of the superbug Clostridium difficile which killed at least 90 patients.
Inadequate staffing levels, dirty wards and too much focus on cost-cutting and government targets contributed to two serious outbreaks of C difficile in as many years at Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust, an investigation by the Healthcare Commission found.
Labels: burying bad news, C difficile, DoH, labour liars, MRSA, superbugs
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