MRSA down by a third in England

Cases of superbug MRSA in English hospitals have fallen by more than a third over the past year, according to official figures released today.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown hailed the reduction as “dramatic” in a letter to all National Health Service (NHS) staff congratulating them on exceeding their target of halving the cases of the potentially fatal hospital-acquired infection since 2004.

Figures from the British Health Protection Agency for April to June showed a 14% decrease in hospital-acquired MRSA infections in England compared to the previous quarter, and a 36% reduction on the corresponding quarter of 2007.

The British government's "deep clean" programme for hospitals was announced last September and completed in March this year.

Health Secretary Alan Johnson issued orders for every NHS hospital in England to be scrubbed in a bid to tackle bugs like MRSA and C diff, backed by £50m (€63m) additional funding from the Department of Health.

The hygiene blitz followed the reintroduction of matrons to keep a close eye on the cleanliness of wards across the NHS, as well as a new “bare below the elbows” dress code for hospital staff to encourage regular hand-washing.

The scheme came in for repeated criticism from contract cleaners, the NHS Confederation and opposition parties, but ministers will be hoping that today’s figures convince voters that it has been a success.