HC Deb 12 January 2000 vol 342 cc189-90W
Dr. Cable

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make it his policy to monitor(a) outbreaks of MRSA in NHS acute Trusts and (b) how NHS Trusts prevent and control the MRSA infection. [102243]

Yvette Cooper

Chief executives of National Health Service Trusts are responsible for ensuring that there is an effective infection control programme within their Trusts. Individual Trusts manage arrangements for controlling hospital infection, including MRSA, in the light of local circumstances. This includes having an infection control team which has primary responsibility for all aspects of surveillance, prevention and control of hospital infection. The new risk management and organisational control standards for the NHS, which were launched on 22 November by my hon. Friend the Minister of State for Health, include standards for hospital infection control. These standards reinforce chief executives and Trust board members' responsibilities. The Public Health Laboratory Service maintains a record of outbreaks of MRSA that are reported to it and publishes aggregated data at regular intervals.

Mr. Rowe

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much is being spent on research into the causes and elimination of MRSA in the current financial year. [102857]

Yvette Cooper

The Department is currently spending £91,000 on a systematic review of isolation policies and screening practices in MRSA management, which started in April 1999. In addition, the Medical Research Council (MRC), which receives most of its income via grant in aid from the office of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, funds medical research as part of the Government's funding of the science and engineering base. The MRC spent a total of £433,383 on research related to MRSA in 1998–99 and has also agreed funding for two new projects in this area for 2000–01, totalling approximately £91,260. The Staphylococcal Reference Unit at the PHLS Central Public Health Laboratory is also engaged in research, estimated to cost £40,000, on why some strains of MRSA are epidemic.

Mr. Rowe

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the estimated annual cost to the NHS of MRSA(a) in each of the last three financial years and (b) estimated for the current financial year; and how many NHS Trusts in Kent are in financial difficulties as a result of MRSA. [102856]

Yvette Cooper

The information requested is not held centrally. In any individual patient, it is usually very difficult to assess the contribution of any infection acquired in hospital on the outcome, since many patients are already seriously ill from other conditions.

Mr. Rowe

To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many NHS(a) beds and (b) wards are currently out of service due to MRSA; [102854]

(2) how many patients are currently in intensive care due to MRSA. [102855]

Yvette Cooper

The information requested is not available centrally.

Mr. Rowe

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients died in 1997 and 1998 as a result of MRSA. [102858]

Yvette Cooper

Methicillin resistantStaphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection can take the form of many different diseases from trivial skin infections to pneumonia or septicaemia. Often the causative microorganism is not specified on the death certificate. MRSA does not have a distinct code within the International Classification of Diseases used for encoding death registration data at the Office for National Statistics. Consequently there are no centrally held statistics on deaths from this cause.