Health secretary plans to reduce cost claimed by superbug medical negligence

2008 is a year in which the government hope to dramatically cut the rate of hospital superbugs. It is hoped that achievement of this aim will also cut the compensation costs of medical negligence claims for superbugs, which, at the moment, are mostly being made by patients suffering from either MRSA or Clostridium difficile.

The Department of Health currently estimate that around one in ten of all healthcare patients in the UK develop some form of infection during their stay at a healthcare institution. The financial cost of these infections is not confined to medical negligence claims, with patients who develop superbugs estimated to spend more than three times as much in hospital than those who are lucky enough to go superbug-free.

Health secretary Alan Johnson has indicated that the latest move to drive down infection rates will be to recruit specialist staff to combat the superbug risk. The £45 million that it is expected the move will cost has already been set-aside during an October spending review. It is anticipated that the money will be spent on the recruitment of two isolation nurses, two infection control nurses and one antimicrobial pharmacist for every hospital in the UK.

Antimicrobial pharmacists will play a major part in drives to cut the unnecessary prescription of antibiotics. Alan Johnson commented on these measures, "The past 60 years have seen great advances in healthcare and medicine. For example, the use of antibiotics have saved countless lives, but antibiotics do not work on most coughs, colds and sore throats and their unnecessary use can leave the body susceptible to gut infections like Clostridium difficile. The new pharmacists that trusts will be able to recruit will be key to ensuring proper antibiotic prescribing on wards."

These measures will supplement others already made public, such as the "deep clean" which is scheduled to be performed of all UK hospitals by the end of March and yearly infection inspections.

Other measures include additional fines for Trusts who fail to reduce rates of infection as well as plans for a landmark "Cleaning Summit".

Fortunately, much of the hard work is beginning to pay off, with infection rates down for both MRSA and C. difficile. The health secretary comments, "We have gone from what has been described by the HPA [Health Protection Agency] as 'a seemingly unstoppable rise in MRSA bloodstream infections throughout the 1990s' to a 10% fall in cases of MRSA, thanks to the hard work and dedication of NHS staff, but we know that there is still more to be done."

"Patients have my assurance that the government will not take its foot off the pedal and will continue to do all we can to tackle infection."

Clinical negligence solicitors
Medical professionals have a duty of care to all their patients. Any substandard or negligent care should be taken very seriously, and in cases where it results in pain, suffering or personal injury, patients should consider themselves entitled to claim compensation.

YouClaim's esteemed panel of clinical negligence solicitors have many years of experience in representing the interests of claimants in medical negligence claims.

They do this, win or lose, without any legal costs or fees. And our no-cut commitment means that all winning claimants are guaranteed 100% of the compensation awarded them.

To find out more about what we can do for you, fill out an online claim form or call us now on 0800 10 757 95.