Standards designed to reduce the incidence of hospital acquired infection, including the spread of antibiotic resistant bacteria, were announced for England this week by the Department of Health.
Speaking at a conference in London on governance in the NHS, health minister John Denham announced the new standards for NHS hospitals on infection control—part of the wider introduction of 18 new standards for the assessment of the performance across the service. He said: “One of the most important areas covered [in the new standards] is hospital acquired infection. Dealing with these infections is a huge problem, and we are determined to help the NHS deal with it. This issue affects thousands of patients throughout the NHS. Elderly people, the very young, and those who have had major operations can all find themselves seriously ill as a result of these bugs.”
The standards for hospital acquired infections cover 15 measures that NHS trusts will be required to introduce and audit. These include establishing infection control teams if these are not already in place. These teams will include doctors,nurses, and microbiologists and will be supervised by local infection control committees. Trusts will also have to set up indicators to show improvement in infection control and provide training for all healthcare staff in infection control.
The new standards are designed to reduce the incidence of resistant bacteria, particularly strains such as methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Professor Brian Duerden, director of the Public Health Laboratory Service, warned earlier this month that levels of MRSA had reached epidemic levels in UK hospitals. He reported that incidents involving MRSA had risen 12-fold since 1991 and were now responsible for 37%of allS aureus infections, compared with only 3%in 1991. Mr Denham suggested that the new standards could combat this trend: “The idea that superbugs are unbeatable is rubbish. With good practice and careful hygiene they can be beaten.”
NHS trusts will be required to assess themselves against the new standards by March 2000. They will then have to produce statements setting out their plans to implement the requirements by July 2000. Their progress towards meeting the standards will be independently assessed locally by auditors and at a national level by the Commission for Health Improvement and the Audit Commission.
Figure.
DR KARI LOUNATMAA/SPL
The incidence of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus should be reduced by improved infection control