MRSA Action UK Patron Edwina Currie will be speaking at the Reducing Healthcare Associated Infections - GovToday Conference Maintinaing Patient Safety: Breaking the cycle of infection Tuesday 21st June 2011 - Venue The Brewery, London

Tuesday, 21 June 2011 12:00 AM

MRSA Action UK Patron Edwina Currie will be speaking at the
Reducing Healthcare Associated Infections - GovToday Conference
Maintinaing Patient Safety: Breaking the cycle of infection
Tuesday 21st June 2011 - Venue The Brewery, London

With the imminent closure of the National Programme for Healthcare Associated Infections (HCAIs) and the radical reform of NHS services, it is vital that during the period of change patient safety remains at the forefront of everyone's priorities. Zero tolerance to avoidable healthcare associated infections in both the community and the hospital environment must remain a goal to continue with the work that has gone into making healthcare safer.

The Public Accounts Committee Reports in 2000, 2005 and the most recent, 'Reducing Healthcare Associated Infection in Hospitals in England, Fifty-second Report of Session 2008-09', and the influential 'Dr. Fosters Hospital Guide - Focus on Patient Safety' in 2009, outlined serious concerns about quality of patient care and the need to combat infection.

The conclusions from these reports helped to shape the multi-faceted approach to reducing HCAIs, identifying a series of common themes at the heart of the problem:
. Effective leadership from the top;
. Management of risk, responsibility and governance structures - systemic mechanisms in place;
. A focus on staff recruitment, retention, training and communication;
. Escalation and isolation - performance management techniques;
. The importance of the utilisation of accurate information, data monitoring, continual surveillance and screening;
. Prudent antibiotic prescribing, and
. The overriding priority of meticulous cleaning of clinical areas and the use of appropriate resources and equipment to maintain a clean environment.

The National Programme for HCAIs formalised this process into a cycle of Action based around the principles of establishing:
. A Clear Vision and Plan
. Leadership
. Accountability
. Competence
. Measurement and
. Assurance

The Care Quality Commission, with responsibility for registering, monitoring and enforcing quality standards, has helped to deliver progress amongst healthcare organisations; the registration process for any healthcare organisation wishing to legally provide services involves compliance with the established quality and safety standards, including any "Code of Practice issued by the Secretary of State in relation to the prevention or control of healthcare associated infections".
This registration process incorporates Acute Trusts, all adult social care organisations, private and voluntary healthcare, and from April 2011, ambulance services, prison health services, independent midwifery services, dental practices and other groups new to registration.

The role of now regular surveillance, screening and monitoring processes as recorded by the Health Protection Agency has also contributed greatly to a significant reduction in key infection rates of MRSA bacteraemia, a 75 per cent reduction since 2003/04, when more patients were dying from what are largely avoidable infections.

Clostridium difficile decreased by 57 per cent in Acute Trusts, but there remains staggeringly high numbers of people with the infection in some hospitals and considerably more outside of the hospital setting. MRSA Action UK's analysis showing trends in individual hospitals and by region can be found at data.gov.uk

The progress recorded to date in reducing both MRSA and Clostridium difficile needs to be replicated for other infections, in particular MSSA and E. Coli, whilst simultaneously delivering the planned structural and efficiency challenges ahead for the health sector. MRSA Action UK continues to campaign to raise awareness and to bring other infections into the forefront of the surveillance programme, to drive down the larger proportion of infections that do not appear in the statistics and to tackle the regional variations and other emerging threats in our hospitals and care facilities. MRSA Action UK patron Edwina Currie will join the panel debate at the conference bringing the patients viewpoint to the fore.

Reducing HCAIs 2011 - Maintaining Patient Safety: Breaking the Cycle of Infection will provide GovToday's annual policy update on reducing HCAIs from both international and national clinical leads, showcasing best practice and innovative technologies in developing and debating effective future strategies.

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