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This weblog will enable you to keep up with breaking news stories about MRSA and Heathcare Acquired Infection from one website.

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Wednesday
10Mar2010

Hygiene lapses discovered at hospital


BLOOD-stained mattresses, dust and debris were among the hygiene lapses revealed in a spot check at East Surrey Hospital.

A shocking report by the inspection watchdog Care Quality Commission (CQC) slams hygiene failures at the hospital which is the acute facility serving East Grinstead and villages throughout the area.

 

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Wednesday
10Mar2010

Mental health care provider fined for standards breaches

A company responsible for running a mental health hospital in Yorkshire has been fined thousands of pounds for breaching care standards in relation to medication.

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Thursday
25Feb2010

Poor hand hygiene caused C diff outbreak that claimed five lives 

Poor hand hygiene has been blamed for a deadly outbreak of C diff which killed two patients and contributed to the deaths of three others.

An internal report into hygiene compliance at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee found that hand hygiene standards had dropped to 85% in the month before the strain of Clostridium difficile (C diff) took hold in the ward.

It also found that the 027 strain of the bug, which infected seven patients in total, “behaved in a very different way with rapid spread and high mortality”.

Two elderly patients died after contracting the bug during the outbreak on 19 October 2009 which is thought to have taken hold through damaged fabric and furniture in the ward.

The NHS Tayside report said that “the ward team worked on a number of initiatives to improve compliance” following the incident but admitted that it was “difficult to understand why in this instance there was continuing spread” of the C diff infection.

Tuesday
23Feb2010

Tameside NHS trust to be reinvestigated after residents' campaign

A hospital trust with higher-than-average death rates is to be reinvestigated by health regulators after a campaign by local residents and MPs.

The Department of Health said last night that it welcomed an investigation by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), the health watchdog, into care at Tameside Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Greater Manchester.

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Friday
27Nov2009

Dirty Essex hospitals prompt call for system reform

The way hospitals are regulated should be urgently reformed after a report found a catalogue of failings at two hospitals in Essex, a charity has said.

The Patients Association said people had been "appallingly" let down.

The independent regulator highlighted an unusually high death rate and poor hygiene, including blood-spattered kit.

Basildon and Thurrock NHS trust said concerns were not indicative of wider problems, but a taskforce has been sent in to force through improvements.

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Monday
16Nov2009

Clean up and “give soap a chance” says MRSA Action UK

Hull & East Yorkshire NHS Trust wins the support of MRSA Action UK in it’s simple but effective campaign to get everyone to wash their hands.

As the UK braces itself for the winter flu season, and the second wave of swine flu, the message from Give Soap a Chance is more important than ever. Hand washing with soap and water is the most effective way of preventing the spread of infections both in hospital and at home.

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Wednesday
11Nov2009

‘Lessons not learnt’ as five die in C diff outbreak

Ninewells Hospital - a ward has been closed after an outbreak of C. difficile

Five elderly patients have died in an outbreak of Clostridium difficile at a Scottish hospital, prompting accusations from opposition politicians that lessons have not been learnt from previous cases of the infection.

A ward at Dundee’s Ninewells Hospital has been closed following the deaths. Eight patients on Ward 31, a medicine for the elderly unit, contracted the infection, and seven of these had the particularly virulent 027 strain of the bacterium.

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Tuesday
10Nov2009

MRSA 'not the only threat to NHS'

More thorough cleaning has helped bring MRSA infection rates down

The government has taken its "eye off the ball" on hospital infections other than MRSA and Clostridium difficile, a cross-party group of MPs says.

The Public Accounts Committee said setting targets in England for the two infections had led to a fall in cases.

But they warned there were signs other bugs, such as E. coli, were becoming more common and they called for better surveillance to curb the problem.

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Thursday
15Oct2009

Care Quality Commission publishes NHS performance ratings

Wednesday
07Oct2009

A new registration system

 

 

From 1 April 2010, the regulation of health and adult social care will change. Legislation is bringing in a new system that applies to all regulated health and adult social care services.

All health and adult social care providers, who provide regulated activities, will be required by law to register with the Care Quality Commission. New registration comes into effect on 1 April 2010 for NHS trusts (including primary care trusts) and 1 October 2010 for adult social care and independent healthcare providers.

·         About the new registration system

·         Scope of the new registration system

·         Complying with the new regulations

·         Timescales for the new registration system

·         Involving people who use services in registration