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Thursday, 23 February 2006 11:59 | BNN: British Nursing News Online · www.bnn-online.co.uk
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The number of deaths linked to the hospital superbug MRSA has increased by nearly a quarter, the Office of National Statistics has revealed.
Latest figures show that mentions of MRSA on death certificates increased by 22 per cent between 2003 and 2004.
It does not mean that MRSA was necessarily the cause of death, just that it contributed to it.
Despite the rise, Chief Nursing Officer Christine Beasley said: "It is important to put this in to context.
"These figures show that out of the 12m people that go in to hospital in a year about 360 of them probably die directly of MRSA, but it is unacceptable for anyone to die unnecessarily from infections.
"Many people who have MRSA are very, very sick people prone to infection and not all infections are avoidable, but we are ensuring that the NHS has good hand hygiene and clinical procedures to prevent the ones that are.
"We are now legislating to put a hygiene code and a tougher inspection regime into law, to drive up standards of hygiene and infection control, with ultimate sanctions for trusts who fail to deliver."
But Patients Association chairman Michael Summers said: "We are disappointed by these new figures.
"It is clear that MRSA and hospital infections are winning the war in many of our wards."
He added simple hygiene measures, such as washing hands, could have a huge impact and should be taken by everyone in hospitals.
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