NHS bosses slam Howard over MRSA figures

Saturday, 16 April 2005 12:00 AM

NHS managers have accused Michael Howard of publishing exaggerated statistics about the MRSA superbug.

The NHS Confederation, representing health trusts across Britain, claimed that the Conservative Party had whipped up public fears about the antibiotic-resistant virus.

The Confederation attacked a letter to voters from the Conservative leader, in which he attacked the Labour record on infection control and gave figures showing "the number of people who contracted MRSA in your local NHS trust", claiming it was "misleading" and contained inaccurate information about the rate of infection in local hospitals.

The Tories have admitted that they should have made it clear the MRSA figures they were referring to were regional. The MRSA leaflets have been sent out to areas of the UK that the Tories are targeting.

In North Yorkshire, residents were told there had been 247 cases of the superbug in a year at a local hospital when there had been six, while residents in Twickenham, Surrey, received letters saying there had been 166 MRSA cases, but the two local hospitals only had 60 in 12 months. Several other trusts have made similar complaints to NHS managers.

The NHS Confederation said: "We fear it could create a misleading picture and damage the reputation of local hospitals...where frontline staff and their managerial and support staff colleagues are working so hard to tackle MRSA."

Liberal Democrat health spokesman Paul Burstow also hit out at the Tory leaflets, saying: "This is fighting the election by frightening elderly people for no good reason."

The MRSA hospital-acquired infection has become a key issue of this year's general election campaign.

Labour unveiled plans for new community hospitals today. Health secretary John Reid announced plans for 50 community hospitals offering diagnostic tests, day surgery and outpatient facilities.

The minister said the hospitals would be situated closer to where people live and work.

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