§ Mr. CousinsTo ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Newport, West (Mr. Flynn) of 5 May 1998,Official Report, columns 352–53, if he will list the hospitals in rank order of their incidence of MRSA. [41512]
§ Mr. MilburnNo complete records are held on incidents of methicillin resistantStaphylococcus aureus in individual hospitals. Data on the occurrence of MRSA, compiled by the Public Health Laboratory Service are derived from isolates submitted voluntarily by hospitals in England and Wales for specialist laboratory tests.
The number of isolates of MRSA received from individual hospitals depends on local screening policies and on the case mix of patients. Isolates arise both from cases colonised by the organism and from those suffering with an infection due to the organism.