GOVERNMENT GIMMICKS TO TACKLE SUPERBUGS ARE UNTESTED - LAMB

9.49.19am GMT Tue 4th Mar 2008

Responding to official figures released today showing a sharp increase in the number of deaths involving Clostridium difficile, Liberal Democrat Shadow Health Secretary, Norman Lamb said:

"These figures beg the question of why it took so long for the Government to realise the seriousness of deadly infections such as C difficile.

"People have been dying in increasing numbers for years, yet the Government did nothing. Now ministers have promised measures that are untested and have been dismissed by experts as gimmicks.

"Recent successes in keeping infection rates down are down to the hard work of NHS staff, who are up against enormous pressure to hit targets while keeping their wards infection-free."

Notes

1. The Health Statistics Quarterly, released this morning by the Office of National Statistics, contain the number of death certificates mentioning a Clostridium difficile infection:

<http://www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/mrsa0208.pdf>

2. The Government recently admitted to the Liberal Democrats that the one-off 'deep clean' policy was implemented without evidence of its effectiveness:

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research has been (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the effectiveness of one-off deep cleaning of hospitals in preventing the spread of healthcare-associated infections. [187200]

Ann Keen: As set out in the written ministerial statement on 17 January 2008, Official Report, columns 38-39WS, following completion of the deep clean of the national health service on 31 March 2008, the Department will work with strategic health authorities (SHAs) to draw up examples of where a deep clean has had a demonstrable effect in improving patient care and experience and will share these across the NHS.

SHAs will take the lead on evaluation locally as the impact of each trust's programme will be different and no single measurement method will pick up all the benefits, particularly as trusts may be implementing a range of measures to improve cleanliness and tackle health care associated infections.

Improvements to patient experience and environment may be measurable through:

· Patient Environment Action Team scores;

· scores on National Specifications for Cleanliness;

· compliance with the "Code of Practice for the Prevention and Control of Healthcare Associated Infections";

· compliance with Department of Health national core standards;

· health care Commission in-patient survey scores; and

· infection rates