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| Survey shows hospital infections | Survey shows hospital infections |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Nearly one in 10 patients in Scotland's main hospitals are carrying a secondary infection such as MRSA, according to new figures. | Nearly one in 10 patients in Scotland's main hospitals are carrying a secondary infection such as MRSA, according to new figures. |
| The study found hospital associated infections (HAI) in acute hospitals cost the health service £183m a year. | |
| Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said it was the most comprehensive study ever undertaken into the extent of infections in Scotland's hospitals. | Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said it was the most comprehensive study ever undertaken into the extent of infections in Scotland's hospitals. |
| She said infections are most prevalent in elderly, medical and surgical wards. | She said infections are most prevalent in elderly, medical and surgical wards. |
| The survey carried out by Health Protection Scotland, included every patient in all of Scotland's acute hospitals and in a sample of community hospitals. | |
| It recorded the presence of all types of infections on the day of the survey. | |
| It found that prevalence of HAI was 9.5% in acute hospitals and 7.3% in community hospitals. | |
| Ms Sturgeon said the infection rates were a serious problem that had to be tackled. | |
| "It is simply not good enough that 9.5% of patients in Scottish acute hospitals have some form of HAI," she said. | |
| "And the £183m cost to the NHS together with the massive human cost is also unacceptable." | |
| Screening programme | |
| Ms Sturgeon said the survey meant Scotland now had a more comprehensive picture of secondary infections than any other country in Europe. | |
| The health secretary warned that the comprehensive nature of the survey meant Scotland's rates of HAI may appear worse than elsewhere. | |
| But she insisted like-for-like comparisons with countries like England and Norway showed Scotland's rates were similar. | |
| She said a task force set up to tackle the problem would now examine the case for introducing an MRSA screening programme. | |
| It would also target skin and soft tissue infections, reducing blood stream infections and would try and use additional data to tackle infection rates in medical and elderly wards. | |
| Tackling hospital infections is not just the job of hospital staff Nicola SturgeonHealth secretary | |
| Ms Sturgeon added: "Tackling hospital infections is not just the job of hospital staff. Everyone has a key role to play in preventing the spread of infection - patients, visitors and staff alike." | |
| The survey found almost all of the infections of the superbug clostridium difficile were found in elderly and medical wards. | |
| Previous studies have only managed to estimate the scale of the problem. | |
| Cathy Miller, a nurse based at Glasgow Royal Infirmary, said part of the problem was due to nurses having to wash their own uniforms. | |
| "This is the most penny-pinching thing I have ever heard," she said. "Now is that tackling hospital acquired infections when we're doing things like that?" | |
| She said nurses were doing the best job they could with the staffing levels available, and added that contracting out cleaning services to private companies had not helped the matter. | |
| Ms Sturgeon said there was already a group looking into the issue of laundry, and most hospitals still had in-house cleaning services. | |
| Prof Curtis Gemmell, a national adviser on MRSA and hospital infections, said the problem had been made worse by improper use of antibiotics. | |
| He said: "The organism has developed resistance to many of the antibiotics we use in hospital." |