§ Mr. AltonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement about the closure of ward 3X at the Royal Liverpool University hospital, following contagion from multi-resistant staphylococcus; and how many other hospitals in the United Kingdom are affected by this bacterium.
§ Mr. DorrellA patient recently admitted to the hospital was found to be carrying the organism. Before this was identified, cross-infection occurred in two small units in the hospital. Conventional infection control methods, including the temporary closure of ward 3X, brought the outbreak under control. Ward 3X was reopened on Monday 22 April.
There are no national figures for the number of affected hospitals. Infection with multi-resistant staphylococcus—MRSA—is not among the diseases which are statutorily notifiable. However, a survey of the incidence of MRSA from 1986–90 is being prepared by the public health laboratory service and will be available shortly.