First hospital is given warning over failures to tackle superbug
David Rose The Times July 9, 2007
A hospital that is failing to tackle superbug infections has been served with an official warning in the first case of its kind, the health watchdog will announce today.
Inspectors from the Healthcare Commission have found Chase Farm Hospital in Enfield, North London, to be in “serious breach” of the Hygiene Code, the latest government rules to manage healthcare-associated infections such as MRSA and C. difficile.
Even basic requirements, such as providing hand-washing gels at a patient’s bedside, were not in place, the watchdog said.
Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust, which manages the hospital, has now been served with an improvement notice, ordering immediate changes to infection control practices. Despite reporting more than 600 superbug infections in a six-month period last year, there was “no evidence” that the trust learnt from its mistakes, the commission said.
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Hospital warned over superbug failures
Among “fundamental problems” highlighted during a spot-check were failures to keep wards clean, to properly assess the risks of superbug infection and to isolate infected patients so that they could not spread illness.
The commission was given powers to issue improvement notices last year. This is its first.
Continues: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/health/article2045643.ece
