Progress in addressing the dangerously high level of infections in our acute hospitals has been painfully slow. A prime reason has been the delay in employing the necessary infection control staff, because of a cap on public service recruitment. But overcrowding, continuing poor hygiene, insufficient surveillance and screening, the excessive use of antibiotics and a shortage of isolation facilities all contribute to an unacceptable situation.
Hospitals have become dangerous places. And the prevalence of MRSA, in particular, is a serious cause for concern. Accurate statistics are kept on life-threatening MRSA infections, that is, when the antibiotic-resistant superbug enters the bloodstream of patients following surgical procedures. But thousands of patients and hospital staff carry it on their skin every day and pass it on to others. It is also present in the community.
A failure by healthcare personnel to wash their hands has been identified as the major mode of MRSA transmission. And while progress has been made in addressing this issue through the recent introduction of hygiene audits in hospitals, we still trail very far behind European standards. For so long as patients and staff are not routinely screened for MRSA and isolated, treated or sent home when infection is detected, people will continue to die. The last hospital hygiene survey, in July, reported a significant improvement in cleanliness levels over 2004. In spite of that, only 32 out of 53 hospitals met the required standards.
Details of an expanded hygiene audit were released yesterday. Under the scheme, future hospital assessments will, for the first time, include inspections of kitchens, operating theatres and intensive care units. While a welcome development, it represents an incremental approach to tackling poor hygienic standards, rather than a comprehensive assault on MRSA.
Dealing with infection does not involve rocket science. Hospitals in Norway, where resources were devoted to hygiene, isolation and control, reported only four cases of MRSA last year. The number here was close to 600. Aggressive screening policies and robust responses have been shown to be effective. A number of hospitals in this State do that. But the overall situation is depressing. Even where patients are found to carry the MRSA superbug, they are frequently treated in large public wards because isolation facilities are not available. Part of the cause for this malaise is that healthcare has been structured around service providers, rather than consumer requirements. We come bottom of the EU league in terms of consumer healthcare. That must change.