23 March 2009
New figures released by the Health Protection Agency (HPA) show that the number of cases of MRSA (bacteraemia) at Epsom, Sutton and St Helier hospitals fell by a third last year.
The results show that there were 39 cases of the infection across the three hospitals during 2008 compared to 58 the year before.
Interim Chief Executive Peter Coles said: "Infection control continues to be the Trust's number one priority and we are committed to doing all we possibly can to cut our infection rates to an absolute minimum.
"These new figures prove that the measures we have put in place, combined with the hard work of our staff and volunteers, are working. Patients and visitors have an important role to play too and that's why we recently launched our new awareness campaign - The gloves are off - help us beat infections.
The new campaign has seen hundreds of specially designed posters depicting images of boxing gloves with the slogan 'Join us in our fight against infection and help knock 'em out forever' have gone up across the Trust's hospitals. They stress the importance of using alcohol rub before entering and on leaving ward areas and encourage patients and visitors to ask staff if they believe they have not washed their hands or are bare below the elbows when providing direct clinical care.
As well as targeting patients and visitors, the campaign also reminds staff and volunteers of the role they have to play, especially around the need to make sure their hands are clean before and after giving direct clinical care.
Peter added: "The control and prevention of infections like MRSA and C. difficile is an important issue for patients and visitors and, by working together, we will strive to further reduce the number of cases we see."
Over the last eighteen months, the Trust has introduced a number of high profile measures to control and prevent infections, including:
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Increasing the training given to all staff;
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Daily monitoring of devices and drips;
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Extending our MRSA screening programme so that we can detect and treat it quicker;
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Undertaking a £300,000 deep clean of our hospitals.
