§ Sandra GidleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to(a) increase the availability of (i) isolation or (ii) single rooms in NHS hospitals and (b) increase the use of barrier nursing with respect to infection control issues. [71865]
§ Ms BlearsNational Health Service hospital trusts are expected to have a policy in place for the isolation of patients with infectious diseases and are responsible for determining the level of provision of isolation and single rooms. The use of isolation facilities and barrier nursing, like other treatment decisions, will depend on the clinical judgement of the local infection control team and the clinicians involved in treating the affected patients.
§ Sandra GidleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what changes he plans to NHS infection control policy following the identification of rancomycin resistant staphylococcus aureus in the United States. [72000]
§ Ms BlearsVancomycin resistant staphylococcus aureus (VRSA) can be contained by good infection control procedures. The national controls assurance
S. aureus 2001 Methicillin resistant per cent. S. aureus 2000 Methicillin resistant per cent. S. aureus 1999 Methicillin resistant per cent. London 1220 488 40 1078 532 49 1004 450 45 North West 1324 416 31 986 347 35 1077 350 32 South East 1746 728 42 1402 596 43 1250 415 33 West Midlands 1935 811 42 1725 771 45 1153 498 43 Northern and Yorkshire 1648 466 28 916 414 45 708 265 37 Eastern 1462 603 41 1145 487 43 1113 442 40 Trent 1240 441 36 1209 411 34 978 284 29 South West 1277 476 37 909 372 41 897 300 33 England 11852 4429 37 9370 3930 42 8180 3004 37
408W
S. aureas 1998 Methicillin resistant per cent. S. aureus 1997 Methicillin resistant per cent. S. aureus 1996 Mechicillin resistant per cent. London 1032 420 41 1159 447 39 970 327 34 North West 1070 289 27 1037 0 878 105 12 South East 1307 392 30 1220 335 27 1077 234 22 West Midlands 940 396 42 893 336 38 785 267 34 Northern and Yorkshire 890 280 31 700 143 20 498 36 Eastern 994 364 37 766 271 35 674 159 24 Trent 615 189 31 601 154 26 429 58 14 South West 698 191 27 700 191 27 508 87 17 England 7546 2521 33 7076 1877 27 5819 1273 22 standard already requires trusts to have effective infection control policies therefore no specific policy change is required.
Minimising the development and spread of new strains such as VRSA requires prudent prescribing as well as strict adherence to infection control measures. These are two of the reasons why we are developing targeted action plans for healthcare associated infections and antimicrobial resistance under "Getting Ahead of the Curve", our strategy for combating infectious diseases.
§ Sandra GidleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cases of methicillin resistent staphylococcus aureus were identified in(a) England and (b) each NHS region in each of the last six years, including the most recent year for which figures are available. [71842]
§ Ms BlearsThe mandatory reporting of methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteraemias by National Health Service acute trusts began in April 2001 and these data are published in the communicable disease report weekly. The first year's data are now available and these form a benchmark for future analysis.
However, data for the last six years on MRSA bacteraemias voluntarily reported to the public health laboratory service by microbiology laboratories are available and these are shown in the table.
Laboratory reports of staphylococcus aureus isolated from blood and their susceptibility to methicillin, annual totals 1996–2001.
Laboratory reports of Staphylococcus aureus isolated from blood and their susceptibility to methicillin: England. annual totals 1996–2001