hospital acquired infection

A recent report has highlighted that there has been a 69% rise in reported cases of C.Diff and MRSA. This should come as no surpise to anyone who works in the NHS. Once an issue becomes fodder for politicians then very close attention is paid to the slightest change so since MRSA went live then it was inevitable that it would become a growing problem within the NHS. To a certain extent politicians need to create a problem so that they can then be seen to be doing something by addressing the problem. In part some of the rising figures for hospital acquired infection come from the political nature of the problem so that there is now an incentive to report it. The problem has not developed overnight but in the past it was ignoreed and expecially on death certificates it would not have appreared as a cause of death. The other big factor is the major problem in the NHS . An all out push to shrink waiting lists is the main prority. This high turnover, low investment NHS comes at a cost, and part of this cost is the risk of greater infection. The other big factor is NHS staffing policies and the present attempts to cut staffing to a minimum. Hospital staff are an easy target for politicians who want to blame someone for MRSA ("it's because staff don't wash their hands") but the real issue is that a whole system constantly run at close to breaking point is inevitably going to beging to fail and MRSA/C Diff. is evidence of this failure. Instead of politicians treating the symptoms of these infections they should seek to treat the cause.