Government funds superbug nurses in every hospital
pharmafile | January 9, 2008 | News story | |Â Â C diff, NHSÂ
Millions of pounds in extra funding is to be given to hospitals in England to appoint a team of nurses and pharmacists to help control the spread of superbugs.
England has one of the worst rates of superbug, or healthcare associated infections (HCAIs), in Europe and the government has made tackling the problem a top priority.
The extra funding is part of the Department of Health’s ‘Clean, safe care’ initiative which brings together current HCAI initiatives and details new areas where the extra funding of £270 million per year by 2010/11 should be spent.
Up to £45 million of the total will be spent on hiring additional specialist staff to ensure cleanliness and infection prevention & control, with two infection control nurses, two isolation nurses and an antimicrobial pharmacist recommended in every hospital.
The remainder of the funds is to be spent on implementing the raft of other measures the government has introduced, including screening for all elective patients by March 2009 and a deep clean in every hospital trust by March 2008.
Health secretary Alan Johnson is able to point to some success in tackling the MRSA superbug, but infections caused by C. difficile now pose a greater threat.
Alan Johnson said: “We have gone from what has been described by the HPA as ‘a seemingly unstoppable rise in MRSA bloodstream infections throughout the 1990s’ to a 10% fall in cases of MRSA, thanks to the hard work and dedication of NHS staff, but we know that there is still more to be done.”
There are two key targets for NHS trusts to hit by 2011 – cutting MRSA bloodstream infections to less than half the number in 2003/04 and reducing the number of C. difficile infections from 2007/08 numbers.
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