Inform patients about MRSA and improve hygiene, says lobby group

PATIENTS must be told about the risk of acquiring the hospital super bug MRSA before consenting to surgery, a patients’ lobby group told a national conference on drug resistant infections yesterday.

Chairman of the Irish Patients Association, Stephen McMahon made the call the day after Cork Coroner’s Court recorded that Valentine Ryan (74) from Carrigaline, Co Cork, died over four years ago from blood poisoning caused by MRSA.

Many deaths are believed to have been caused by MRSA but, up to now, they have been officially attributed to other causes.

Addressing the 4th annual North-South conference to discuss antimicrobial resistance in Dublin, Mr McMahon said that patients must be made aware of the prevalence of MRSA in the hospital before signing a consent form.

“It must be made of the consent process,” he insisted. “If a patient realises that a hospital has a problem with MRSA they might decide to change their mind and be operated on somewhere else, if their condition is not life threatening.”

“Such a condition would also encourage medical consultants to be advocates for patients because they would be asking the questions.”

Mr McMahon also believed that the requirement would create another channel of information for patients.

And, he said, legislation should be introduced that would compel hospitals to report every hospital-acquired infection.

Mr McMahon said it was up to hospital managers to ensure that adequate resources were available to provide up-to-date and accurate statistics on the super bug and to ensure that MRSA-infected patients were fully informed about their condition.

And, he said, new hygiene standards being introduced would put the onus on management to explain why, for example, wash basins are dirty or why blood stains were visible on a floor.

The Irish Health Services Accreditation Board (IHSAB) has taken over hygiene audits in all 53 acute hospitals, a job previously left to a British company.

Hospitals must now meet rigorous new standards before they can be classed as hygienic.

Once hospitals submit their self-assessments between January and March next year, the unannounced visits will begin.

The new scheme will manage and ensure hygiene standards are applied. The Health Service Executive (HSE) has asked the board to develop separate infection control standards and will begin this task next year.

“The new hygiene standards will be of benefit to both patients and staff,” said Mr McMahon.