UK'S NHS hospital superbug outbreak kills 331
Pastor Dale Morgan
UK'S NHS hospital superbug outbreak kills 331*
By Rebecca Smith, Medical Editor
Last Updated: 2:11am BST 11/10/2007
Appalling standards of care and a catalogue of failures contributed to
the deaths of 331 patients in the worst outbreak of a hospital superbug
ever recorded in the NHS, a report has found.
nurses were so rushed they did not have time to wash their hands
Nurses did not have time to wash their hands
Crowded wards, a shortage of nurses and financial problems led to 1,176
people contracting Clostridium difficile over two and half years at
three hospitals in Kent.
Though the superbug was rife on the wards, managers failed to act.
Isolation units were not set up, nurses were so rushed they did not have
time to wash their hands and patients were left in soiled beds.
Bedpans were not decontaminated properly and beds were not cleaned as
well as they should have been.
The health watchdog, the Healthcare Commission, concluded that the
infection probably or definitely killed at least 90 patients and was a
factor in the deaths of a further 241.
Fourteen patients who died were found to have C.diff but it did not
contribute to their deaths. In total 345 people died with the infection.
The report said some patients at the hospitals run by the Maidstone and
Tunbridge Wells NHS Hospital Trust should have made a full recovery from
their initial illness. But they caught the bug and died. Police will
determine if there are grounds for criminal charges.
In May 2004 the chief executive of the trust, Rose Gibb, told the BBC
she had known about the cleanliness problem for six months. But by
September last year the hospitals were in the grip of their second outbreak.
Ms Gibb resigned on Friday before the release of the report. The
commission found cases where the patient probably died as a result of
their C.diff infection but it was not mentioned on the death certificate.
The number of people who died also turned out to be far higher than
declared to the media and the commission.
Last week the chief medical officer, Sir Liam Donaldson, wrote to all
doctors telling them to ensure hospital infections were routinely
included on death certificates. Gordon Brown has announced a raft of
measures to improve cleanliness in the NHS.
The commission report said managers at Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells
trust were too focused on hitting Government targets and were cutting
nursing staff and closing beds to balance the books, contributing to the
problem.
The first of two outbreaks affected 150 patients between October and
December 2005. Even though the number of new cases doubled, managers did
not notice.
A further 258 patients contracted C.diff in a second outbreak from April
to September 2006 but an isolation ward to care for infected patients
was not set up until four months into the outbreak.
At the time of the outbreaks, the trust was carrying out a programme to
save £40 million over three years and the report said there was intense
pressure to reduce beds.
It ended last year almost £5 million in the red.
The care of patients once they had contracted the infection was poor,
they were given unsuitable medication and were often dehydrated or underfed.
The shadow health secretary, Andrew Lansley, said: "Centrally imposed
waiting list targets have become such a burden on hospital staff that
they have less time and fewer resources to protect patients."
Dr Malcolm Stewart, the medical director of Maidstone and Tunbridge
Wells NHS Trust, said infection control had improved dramatically in the
last six months.
He said: "We are sorry about what happened and are determined to
continue to reduce levels of the infection."
BY NUMBERS
55,634 people over the age of 65 were infected with C.diff last year in
England.
1,170 patients were infected at Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS
Hospital Trust between April 2004 and September 2006.
331 the number of patients who died where c.diff was the main cause or
at least a likely contributing factor in their death.
50 million pounds of extra funding to fight hospital infections was
announced in July this year by ministers.
45 per cent of hospital trusts reported that Government targets got in
the way of implementing infection control.
3 per cent of adults carrying clostridium difficile harmlessly in their gut.
1 billion pounds is the estimated cost of healthcare associated
infections each year to the NHS.