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Superbugs kill 5,400 patients in one year
Last updated at 00:07am on 23.02.07
Deaths from hospital superbugs have soared to record levels.
Latest figures show Clostridium difficile and MRSA between them were involved in 5,436 deaths in a single year.
Experts fear the statistics are just the tip of an iceberg and say many infections go unrecorded.
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• MRSA - It's even worse than you think
The toll has intensified concerns about poor hygiene in hospitals, aggravated by Health Service spending cuts, as well as fears over ward overcrowding and lack of isolation facilities.
Official surveys show one in three hospitals is flouting guidelines aimed at controlling C. diff.
Figures from the Office of National Statistics show deaths involving C. difficile shot up 69 per cent from 2,247 in 2004 to 3,807 in 2005.
MRSA fatalities rose by 39 per cent, from 1,168 to 1,629.
This means two in every 500 death certificates cited C. diff as a contributory or main factor, with one in 500 mentioning MRSA. The death toll was more than twice as high as that on the roads.
In 2004, the then health secretary, John Reid, promised to halve the MRSA rate by 2008. But campaigners said the figures showed the Government was failing miserably.
Graham Tanner, chairman of the National Concern for Healthcare Infections, said there was still "vast under-reporting" because many doctors failed to follow guidelines on certifying the cause of death.
He said the true toll could be as high as 27,600. There were at least 230,000 infections and their average mortality rate was 15 per cent.
Katherine Murphy, of the Patients' Association, said: "The data reinforces the picture we already have of a substantial increase in C. diff and MRSA rates. Our worry is these figures will continue to rise as other priorities take precedence.
"Inaccurate reporting on death certificates is a constant feature of calls to our helpline. Bereaved relatives should not have to fight for accuracy, doctors have a duty to provide it."
Clostridium difficile can trigger a catastrophic infection of the gut in elderly people.
The bug produces toxins which damage the lining of the bowel, resulting in a severe form of diarrhoea. it is usually spread via the hands of healthcare staff or contaminated surfaces.
Those over 65 are at highest risk especially when they are being treated with antibiotics which destroy the normal balance of the gut, allowing C.diff to take hold.
But there is concern that the bug be getting more severe and affecting younger people.
MRSA is unwittingly carried by many people on their skin. It becomes dangerous when it enters the body, meaning that patients who have had surgery or other invasive treatments are at particular risk. The cost of MRSA to the NHS is put at £1billion a year.
The pressure group Health Emergency warned that shortages of beds and staff mean it is impossible for UK hospitals to adopt the European model of isolating patients and decontaminating whole areas in order to control infection.
As a result the UK has levels of infection and and death rates are far higher than comparable countries in Western Europe.
Geoff Martin, the group's head of campaigns, said: "Over the past 12 months nearly 3,000 hospital beds have been closed in the NHS. That has created serious capacity problems and leads to "hot bedding", which makes a mockery of any attempts to control infection.
"With hospitals under instruction to hack back another £13 billion of deficits this year we will see more bed closures and staff cuts which will create a breeding ground for MRSA, C.diff and the rest of the killer infections gaining a foothold on the wards."
Shadow Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said: "Ministers are failing to face up to the dangers of MRSA and C. diff.
"Hardworking NHS staff are not getting the support they need to deliver a comprehensive strategy against hospital acquired infections.
"The staggering increase in deaths from C. diff and MRSA is worrying enough and the increasing presence of more dangerous strains will become an even bigger problem without an urgent and rigorous strategy now.
"Labour's savage bed cuts over the past two years have allowed deaths from C. diff and MRSA to grow to this appalling level."
Liberal Democrat spokesman Norman Lamb said: "The Government's drive to cut waiting times at all costs conflicts with what should be an absolute priority of cutting infection rates.
"The simple truth is that in hospitals where targets dictate where patients are kept, and beds are filled to bursting point, nurses are not able to isolate patients and clean wards in order to beat the bugs.
"There must be an urgent reassessment of the reporting procedure for hospital acquired infections. Some death certificates are still failing to document where an infection led to a patient's death."
But Health Minister, Lord Hunt, said "vastly improved recording" was responsible for the apparent rise.
He said: "We have set very tough targets for trusts to reduce infections and put a hygiene code and a tougher inspection regime into law, to drive up standards of hygiene and infection control. As a result we are now starting to see significant reductions in rates of MRSA infections.
"Many people who have healthcare-associated infections are very sick and vulnerable to infections, not all of which are avoidable. We are ensuring that the NHS has good hand hygiene and correct clinical procedures to prevent the ones that are."
Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt announced in December that hospital trusts can bid for up to £300,000 each from a £50million fund to help combat C. diff.
In November 2004 Mr Reid said: "I have made it clear that lowering rates of healthcare-acquired infections is a top priority.
"I expect MRSA bloodstream infection rates to be halved by 2008. NHS Acute Trusts will be tasked with achieving a year on year reduction up to and beyond March 2008."
Some experts warn that bugs are here to stay as the price to pay for advances in medicine.
Even with the perfect environment and perfect infection control practice, there would still be infection because increasingly frail people are being saved who would have died a few years ago.
Reader views (7)
I had c-diff in 2006. I'm relatively young (59) and very healthy. Took me 4 months to get back to work. Nasty stuff.
- Ellen, Dallas, Texas, USA
More cash for cleaning and hygiene in hospitals would go a long way towards eradication of these bugs - perhaps the £30 million our apparently brainless government has allotted to anti-smoking spies would be a lot better spent in hospital wards?
- Robin Cardwell, London, UK
Just talking about deaths is nonsense. My late mother contracted C. Diff when she went into hospital for a few days for observation. She was on the critical list for three days and in hospital for three months. On discharge she was housebound and registered disabled. This was a woman who previously was independant and used to borrow my car to run errands. She never really recovered from this infection. The ward in which she contracted the infection was filthy.
A friend contacted MRSA whislt in hospital and died a year later after numerous re-occurences of the infection. The offical cause of death was a heart attack.
The number of fatalities are not a true reflection on the scale of the problem. Although my mother and friend officially did not die of superbugs their lifespans were considerably shortened as a result.
Or is this a case of lies, damn lies and statistics!
- Michael, London
Not only is it many more than the number killed on our roads but if Graham Tanner's figure is correct, it's similar to the number being killed by insurgents in Iraq - and they are trying to kill people!
- Dave John, Pontypridd, UK
I think pre-screening for every patient is no longer a luxury - we must do it. May cost lots to set up but in the long run it would save money
- Laura Probert, Ramsgate, Kent
So that's more people killed in hospital by mal-administration than who die each year in road accidents. Perhaps if the Govt. put as much effort into persecuting hospital managers as they do the motorist then this unncessary loss of life will be a thing of the past.
- Marc, London
I really feel this is down to the poor standards of cleaning contractors at hospitals. I have a friend who worked as a cleaner and left her job because of the poor cleaning and especially in operating theatres, when she complained to her supervisor, guess what... nothing was done.
- Brian, Swindon
