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Five hospital trusts fail to target MRSA
Anna Davis03.04.09
FIVE London health trusts have failed to meet hygiene standards set by a new "super-regulator" for health and social care.
Hospitals across the city were ordered to improve amid fears that measures designed to target MRSA were not being implemented.
The Care Quality Commission criticised Barts Hospital; Lewisham PCT; Barking, Havering and Redbridge Hospitals; Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Mental Health NHS Trust; and South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust.
They are among 21 trusts nationwide which have been asked to work harder to prevent an outbreak of the infections MRSA and Clostridium difficile.
The commission's chairwoman, Barbara Young, said: "Our work with these trusts is ongoing. We will closely monitor their performance to ensure they continue to meet the regulations and make improvements when required. All trusts must remain vigilant and constantly review and strengthen their performance. We want to see standards raised further."
Four of the below-standard hospitals nationally are NHS foundation trusts - which are given independence from government as a reward for good performance. Last month it emerged that Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust was awarded the status despite concerns over its high death rates.
Reader views (2)
I think it's appalling that something as basic as hygiene is placing already vulnerable people in potentially life threatening situations. No amount of excuses are acceptable!
- M, stratford, UK
I wonder what industrial relations are like at these hospitals. I suspect there might be a link with overworked, underpaid, demoralised and disgruntled workers. More and more targets, inappropriate merging of departments, shockingly understaffed wards, paperwork that keeps staff hours past end of shifts - unpaid and unrewarded, illegal shift patterns, gutless human resource departments, outsourcing, people promoted beyond their capabilities, 'customers' who know their rights but not their responsibilities and spineless middle managers - all these factors lead to very demoralised staff unable to complete their duties in the way they have been trained to and the way they would like to. Something has to give and in the end standards will drop as corners are cut and everyone loses. The recent crises in social services are just a preamble, there is a bigger time bomb slowly ticking away in our hospitals...
- B Williams, Friern Barnet, UK
