Superbug death hospital authority "all clear"

2:00pm Saturday 13th September 2008

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BRITAIN’S health watchdog is to halt its scrutiny of Buckinghamshire’s hospital authority over superbug deaths – as infection is now a “top priority”.

The Healthcare Commission has said it no longer needs to monitor Buckinghamshire Hospitals NHS Trust’s progress after the Stoke Mandeville deaths.

In July 2006 it found senior managers “failed to follow advice on stopping the spread of infection” which saw at least 33 people die between October 2003 and June 2005 from c difficile.

It demanded action and has monitored the trust on its progress until now.

In a letter to the trust Dr Alison Loftus-Hills, the lead assessor from the Healthcare Commission, said infection control is now a “top priority” for the Trust.

Staff “at all levels” have been behind the change and “substantial progress” had been made.

She said: “We would like to commend all staff at the Trust for the improvement to systems and processes that have had a corresponding impact on infection rates and ultimately patient safety and quality of care.”

Chief executive Anne Eden, appointed in December 2006, said: “This is formal recognition of the journey the Trust has made since the report was published.

“Whilst I welcome this news, we know we can never be complacent and we will continue to place the control of infections among our highest priorities.

“We asked our patients what their number one issue was and they told us they wanted clean, safe hospitals and to have no undue concerns about hospital acquired infections.

“We’ve made that our first patient promise, and we are striving to ensure that we eliminate avoidable infections altogether.”

She said mandatory hand hygiene training for all staff, limiting the use of some types of antibiotics and ensuring there are hand washing products by every bedside had led to improvements.

The trust will continue to undergo more general monitoring as is the case with all NHS trusts in England.