MRSA Action UK: Disparity remains in reducing Clostridium difficile

Friday, 24, Oct 2008 12:00

MRSA Action UK welcomes the reduction in the numbers of people who have been infected with Clostridium difficile this quarter. However this is a guarded welcome. With the release of the latest quarterly figures from the Health Protection Agency on the prevalence of Clostridium difficile infections in our Hospitals and in the Community, we have again found considerable disparities between Trust’s performance.

Our analysis gives us cause for concern. Whilst the overall figures for the contraction of Clostridium difficile may be showing a downward trend, there are very worrying signs that some hospitals are failing to get to grips with these bacterium on their premises. Our analysis has highlighted that 20% of NHS Trusts have in fact seen a significant increase in the number of patients contracting Clostridium difficile, a significant number of whom had high incidence of infection last year, so we would expect to see a reduction in these Trusts, particularly where they have attained Foundation Trust status.

MRSA Action UK has warned for some considerable time that there is a postcode lottery with MRSA in our hospitals and that the Government’s target of reducing MRSA by 50% was only met because a number of hospital trusts had been very successful in reducing these bacterium in their hospitals.

We are now seeing the same effect with the bacteria Clostridium difficile, where again the significant reductions that have been hailed with the release of these figures, these have been achieved by a number of hospitals having been very successful in reducing Clostridium difficile quite significantly. Over 20% of NHS hospital trusts had higher incidence of Clostridium difficile in the April to June 2008 quarter when compared to the April to June 2007 quarter, with some Trusts not reducing Clostridium difficile at all.

As a civilised society we cannot accept a situation where patients have a higher risk of contracting Clostridium difficile just because of where they live. We need to see a uniform reduction across the whole of the NHS. What we have at the present moment is a situation where the best reduction over the last year was 259% and the highest increase was 65%.

MRSA Action UK questions why one hospital can have such a success in reducing Clostridium difficile when another struggles to keep the infection under control. As a Charity we would congratulate those NHS staff who have made the breakthrough in reducing Clostridium difficile significantly, and would like to help those who are struggling to control these bacterium in their hospitals. More over though, we would like to see the Department of Health and the Healthcare Commission sending teams in to those hospitals that we can quite clearly see have lost the ability to provide safe care and save people from suffering, and sadly in some instances, unnecessary death.

The events of last year at the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust should be a salutary reminder of the cost that many of us have paid in respect to Healthcare Infections when the system of Infection Prevention and Control fails and as such they are still failing in too many NHS Trusts.

Until we can reduce Clostridium difficile to a level that is as comparable with the best, we will never have the world class health service we deserve, and we will condemn thousands of more people and families to suffering and pain that is unacceptable to a modern civilised society.

More of a focus on hand hygiene, clean hospitals and judicious antibiotic prescribing is needed. Sufficient isolation facilities and training for staff and a “can do” attitude must exist in all our hospitals before we see the improvements that patients expect and deserve.

Derek Butler

Chair

MRSA Action UK

Registered Charity No 1115672

Tel No 07762 741114

http://mrsaactionuk.net