Hospitals must be honest with patients who contract MRSA, says Harney

HOSPITALS must be more open in dealing with patients who contract the MRSA superbug, Tánaiste and Health Minister Mary Harney insisted last night.

Ms Harney told the campaign group MRSA and Families that she shared their concern that some patients were not being told that they were infected by the deadly organism.

And Ms Harney, who spent over one-and-a-half hours with the group yesterday, is anxious that they meet with the Health Service Executive (HSE) as soon as possible to discuss their agenda for change.

Group founder Margaret Dawson said they were pleased with their meeting with the minister.

“We realise there is no quick fix for the MRSA problem but we have put our cards on the table,” she said.

The group is calling for every patient to be tested for the superbug when they go into hospital and an assurance that those who acquire the infection will be told that they have the superbug.

They also want follow-up care to be provided for patients with MRSA after they are discharged from hospital and for death certificates to state that MRSA has contributed to a patient’s death.

Ms Dawson, whose husband Joe contracted MRSA after an operation to relieve chronic pain to his upper spine last year, added that counselling should be available to those that needed it as well as a national helpline.

“We want to ensure that people with MRSA and their families are not fobbed off and left in the dark anymore,” she said.

Ms Dawson said the campaign group, which was launched in May, now represented 600 people who have been affected by the superbug.

Ms Dawson said they regarded their meeting with Ms Harney as another step forward in advancing their agenda for tackling the superbug.

Last month, the group told members of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health and Children how the infection had killed and maimed hundreds of Irish people.

A spokesperson for Ms Harney said the meeting went well and that the group had accepted her offer to arrange an early meeting with the HSE.

The spokesperson pointed out, however, that legal advice would have to be sought in relation to the group’s desire to have death certificates state that MRSA was a contributory factor.

He said that it might be possible to amend the Coroner’s Act to allow for such a provision to be made.