‘Downward trend’ in UK MRSA levels

The Department of Health has reported that recently published figures from the Health Protection Agency have shown a reduction of five per cent in the levels of superbug MRSA.

It has urged the NHS to continue and extend its work in dealing with C difficile rates and reiterated the new target for C difficile previously announced by the government last month.

Furthermore, it was announced that NHS trusts had applied for 90 per cent of a government fund totalling 50 million pounds aimed at providing facilities to deal with infections in hospitals.

Lord Hunt, health minister, said: “The NHS has been working hard to tackle infections and I commend those trusts that are showing improvement.

“MRSA numbers continue to decline, showing that government measures, including the Clean Your Hands campaign, are clearly having an effect.”

He added the 50 million pound government funding would assist trusts in controlling infections, while further work would be needed to reduce the number of cases of C difficile.

Last year, health minister Andy Burnham claimed that reducing infection in NHS trusts could be considered good financial management, with increased productivity and inefficiencies in trusts that significantly reduce infection rates.