Health secretary says he is proud NHS staff

Speaking at the NHS Innovation Expo, health secretary Andy Burnham said he is proud of NHS employees for driving down the levels of hospital infections.

The Health Protection Agency has released figures showing the cases of C difficile in medical centres dropped by 36 per cent in 2010/11 compared to in 2007/08.

Initially, a target of 30 per cent had been set for employees to achieve.

Efforts to lower the number of patients picking up methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus in their bloodstream exceeded expectations too.

Since the NHS met its original target of halving the number of cases, it has gone on to decrease this figure by a further 29 per cent.

Mr Burnham said: “Once again, these figures show that our strategy to reduce healthcare associated infections is working and that the NHS is delivering safer, high quality care.”

Earlier this month, the health secretary set out new proposals to make the NHS prioritise the best standards.