12:51pm Friday 11th September 2009
By Stephanie Cureton
IMPROVED sanitation in Wirral hospitals is thought to be the reason behind a fall in the number of healthcare-related illnesses such as MRSA and C.difficile after figures were released yesterday.
According to the latest results from the Health Protection Agency (HPA), Arrowe Park and Clatterbridge hospitals recorded 56 cases of bacterial infection C.diff between April and June compared to 81 cases during the same quarter last year - a decrease of almost 30%.
C.difficile is often spread patient-to-patient or via a contaminated environment. Consequently, a high profile campaign focussing on good hygiene was launched earlier in the year by the Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in a bid to tackle MRSA and C.diff.
It highlighted the importance of clean hands and a clean surrounding.
Cases of MRSA have been halved, with just four cases of the bloodstream infection being recorded at the hospitals during April-June of this year compared with eight during the same period in 2008.
Dr Ian Jones, Medical Director said: "We are delighted that the recent downward trend is continuing and that there has been a significant reduction in the number of cases compared with the same quarter in 2008. "However, we are not complacement."
Figures for the number of swine flu cases have also dropped in the North-West.
The number of assessments by the National Pandemic Service decreased from 1,118 at the beginning of September to 1,026. The number of patients being treated in hospital for more critical cases of the virus also continues to fall.
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