MRSA - What's the answer?
Discussion
Do they still have Matron's on hospital wards?
ananova said:
Howard's £52m plan to beat superbug
Tory leader Michael Howard has unveiled a £52million ten-point action plan to tackle the MRSA hospital superbug.
The plan, dubbed the "matron's budget" would put her in charge of deciding whether to close an infected ward. It would also mean all wards having access to 24-hour cleaning and increased hygiene.
Mr Howard, whose mother-in-law died from a hospital-acquired infection, launched his plan after visiting a hospital in Tooting, south London.
The Conservative leader told a London news conference: "Florence Nightingale once said that the very first requirement in hospital is that it should do the sick no harm. Under Mr Blair our hospitals are failing in that most basic duty. Let's be clear - MRSA is avoidable.
"We live in an advanced 21st century country with ever more sophisticated healthcare. Advances in medical technology have seen rare and congenital diseases tamed - eliminated one by one. But Mr Blair's obsession with targets has created a culture in which the superbug thrives.
"It is a fact that doctors and nurses are prevented from closing wards they know to be infected with the superbug because of Whitehall targets.
"According to a National Audit Office report, more than one in 10 infection control teams reported that their recommendation to close a ward or hospital to clean up the superbug was refused or discouraged by the chief executive because of - and I quote - 'pressure on meeting performance targets'.
"In other words patients are dying because of Mr Blair's targets.
"I have asked Mr Blair to stop managers overruling doctors and nurses who want to shut wards because of MRSA. But he has refused to do so.
"For me cleaning up our hospitals isn't politics. It's personal. Three years ago Sandra's mother died from an infection she picked up in hospital. Yes she was frail. Yes she was old. But she still enjoyed life, and she need not have died."
I think Luivac works.
This is an immunisation against 5 major disease causing bacteria including Staphylococcus aureus, which causes MRSA. You take a pill a day for a month then repeat after a months break. It has been investigated by NICE but to be frank we are only just rolling out Pneumovax which should have been done years ago.
You cannot buy Luivac over the counter in the UK. I bought mine abroad though I suppose the interweb would work.
This is an immunisation against 5 major disease causing bacteria including Staphylococcus aureus, which causes MRSA. You take a pill a day for a month then repeat after a months break. It has been investigated by NICE but to be frank we are only just rolling out Pneumovax which should have been done years ago.
You cannot buy Luivac over the counter in the UK. I bought mine abroad though I suppose the interweb would work.
Basic housekeeping - wash your (dirty) hands. When my dad was in intensive care they were very good with cleanliness, the cleaner was going round constantly washing the floors etc. All the nurses were wearing disposable aprons which they discarded once they had left their patients bedside. There was also an alcoholic hand cleaner dispenser on the wall that you used everytime you went on to and leaving the ward.
If they can do it on intensive care then surely they should do it on other wards.
One thing my nan picked up on when we were visiting in fact she was disgusted (she used to be a nurse) was the fact that the doctors/specialists were not wearing white coats, they were just wearing casual clothes, well a shirt and tie, going round visiting patients, now they cover a lot of ground during a day don't they? Surely they should at least wear a white coat?
Getting back to the 'No Angels' programme, the MRSA episode was about a doctor with a tie leaning over patients with his tie falling on everything, interesting idea? I wonder how many germs a tie could pick up in the course of a day
If they can do it on intensive care then surely they should do it on other wards.
One thing my nan picked up on when we were visiting in fact she was disgusted (she used to be a nurse) was the fact that the doctors/specialists were not wearing white coats, they were just wearing casual clothes, well a shirt and tie, going round visiting patients, now they cover a lot of ground during a day don't they? Surely they should at least wear a white coat?
Getting back to the 'No Angels' programme, the MRSA episode was about a doctor with a tie leaning over patients with his tie falling on everything, interesting idea? I wonder how many germs a tie could pick up in the course of a day
mrs fish said:
One thing my nan picked up on when we were visiting in fact she was disgusted (she used to be a nurse) was the fact that the doctors/specialists were not wearing white coats, they were just wearing casual clothes, well a shirt and tie, going round visiting patients, now they cover a lot of ground during a day don't they? Surely they should at least wear a white coat?
2 reasons not to, firstly the white coat puts a lot of people off, and secondly most people change their clothes each day, how often do you think a white coat gets washed
mrs fish said:
The most letal implement is the humble pen as it get passed all round the hospital.
Plus how often have you seen a surgen/doctor wearing hospital blues or greens? You shouldn't they are supposed to be worn in theatre only !!!!
I never mentioned blues or greens....
I know, but i thought id just chuck it in
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