PM praises hospital infection progress

30 January 2008

Gordon Brown has praised the NHS for its ongoing deep-clean of hospitals that has brought a drop in the rate of infections.

Responding to MPs in Parliament, the PM said that recorded cases of MRSA had fallen 18 percent and C.difficile by 21 percent compared to the previous quarter. An injection of £50 million since June 2007 was proving effective in inspecting hospitals and implementing hygeine controls, he added.

The PM said that a number of measures were having a positive effect, including the doubling of hospital matrons to 5,000 and pre-emptive screening for signs of infection.

The latest figures were released earlier today by the Health Protection Agency. Dr Georgia Duckworth, head of the agency's Infection Department, said the fall in MRSA was a "major achievement against the seemingly unstoppable rise that we saw throughout the 1990s".

• PM pledges action on hospital infections
• Go to our Health section
• Go to the HPA website (new window)
• More from today's PMQs

Image copyright: Reuters