Press Release - The Management and Control of Hospital Acquired
Infection in Acute NHS Trusts in England
17 February 2000
Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, reported to
Parliament today that hospital acquired infections can have serious
consequences for patients, may be costing the NHS in the region of
£1,000 million a year but could be reduced by around 15 per cent
across the NHS. The report is a comprehensive analysis of how
better management and control could address the problem of hospital
acquired infection.
Top Five ways Hospital Acquired Affection can attack:
- Blood Infections
- After Surgery
- Urinary Infections
- Chest Infections
- Skin Infections
Six Main Things about Hospital Acquired Infections:
- Around one in eleven patients at any one time has an infection
caught in hospital
- There are at least 100,000 hospital infections a year
- They cost the NHS hundreds of millions of pounds a year
- They can mean several extra days in hospital
- The old and the young at most at risk
- Hospital acquired infections can kill
Sir John commends the professionalism and dedication of NHS
hospital infection control teams. He found many examples of good
practice to prevent and minimise the problems of hospital acquired
infection in individual NHS Trusts. He also recognised that the
Department of Health has launched a number initiatives recently to
raise the profile of hospital acquired infection and improve its
prevention and control. But there is scope to do a lot more,
particularly as part of efforts to tackle the growing problem of
antibiotic resistance.
Sir John also concludes that in many NHS Trusts there may be a
growing mismatch between what is expected of infection control
teams in controlling hospital infection and the staffing and other
resources allocated to them. He also found a lack of evidence based
guidelines on the cost effectiveness of measures to reduce hospital
acquired infection and scope to improve dissemination of good
practice.
Prioritisation of resources for dealing with hospital acquired
infection is not helped by the general lack of basic, comparable
information about rates of hospital acquired infection. He
therefore welcomed the Nosocomial (hospital acquired)
Infection National Surveillance Scheme and the Department’s new
Clinical Governance and Controls Assurance initiative which, among
other things, focus attention on ways of improving the management
and control of hospital acquired infection.
Sir John details 29 recommendations for improving the management
and control of hospital acquired infection. These include, that the
Department of Health should:
- consider revising their 1995 guidance on infection control and
ensure that NHS Trusts comply with this guidance, and with the
controls assurance standards on infection control;
- consider commissioning research on appropriate staffing levels
for the infection control team; and
- encourage comprehensive participation in the Nosocomial
Infection National Surveillance Scheme.
Also that NHS Trusts should:
- ensure that there is appropriate feedback of surveillance data
to clinicians and senior management who should be encouraged to
accept greater ownership for the control of hospital infection;
and
- ensure that infection control considerations are an integral
part of bed management policies and that the infection control
function is resourced in line with Departmental guidance.
Sir John said today:
"Hospital acquired infections are a huge problem for the
NHS. They prolong patients’ stays in hospital and, in the worst
cases, cause permanent disability and even death. By implementing
the NAO recommendations the NHS could make real improvements in the
quality of care for patients and could free up significant
additional resources for patient care."
Notes for Editors
The Comptroller and Auditor General, Sir John Bourn, is the head
of the National Audit Office employing some 750 staff. He and the
NAO are totally independent of Government. He certifies the
accounts of all Government departments and a wide range of other
public sector bodies; and he has statutory authority to report to
Parliament on the economy, efficiency and effectiveness with which
departments and other bodies have used their resources.
Press Notice 6/00
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