Brown hails 36% drop in MRSA cases

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The Health Protection Agency (HPA) figures for April to June showed a 14% decrease in hospital-acquired MRSA infections in England compared to the previous quarter, and a 36% reduction on the corresponding quarter of 2007.

They also showed that the Government's target of halving cases of MRSA in hospitals since 2004 has been exceeded, with a total reduction of 57%.

The figures follow an intensive effort by the Government to tackle hospital infections, including a hospital "deep clean" programme which was completed in March.

But the Tories denied the target had been met, accusing the Government of moving the goalposts.

The figures prompted Mr Brown to write an open letter to NHS staff congratulating them on their "tremendous achievement".

Mr Brown wrote: "This tremendous achievement is down to you, the staff of the NHS, and I wanted to write to thank you on behalf of everyone who relies on the NHS for your efforts over the course of the last year.

"These improvements come on top of significant falls in waiting times and they show that when you, the staff, are supported in the right ways you can achieve great things for the people of this country."

Former Cabinet minister John Reid, who set the target to reduce MRSA infections by 50% when he was health secretary in 2004, said he was "absolutely delighted" with the news.

"I knew when I set this target just how challenging it would be to meet it and there were many who said that it could not be met. Now that it has been, it is a credit to everyone who has been involved in the NHS," he said.