London: Hospitals fail to meet superbug targets

London hospitals are struggling to cope with deadly superbugs, despite a major hygiene drive in the NHS - reports the Evening Standard.

Figures released today by the Health Protection Agency show rising rates of the potentially fatal stomach bug Clostridium Difficile.

Almost 1,680 people contracted the bug in the first three months of this year - a rise of 14% on the previous three months.

Additionally, around 1,200 people contracted MRSA - 25% more than the target level.

The figures come only days after chief medical officer Sir Liam Donaldson attacked hospitals for an "unacceptable level of hygiene".

Barnet and Chase Farm NHS Hospitals Trust was issued with an improvement notice last month for serious breaches of the rules, including basic measures such as not having alcohol hand-rubs.

The highest numbers of C.Difficile cases were at Barnet and Chase Farm hospitals (Theresa Villiers MP and Joan Ryan MP), with 188 in the three months from January to March.

There were 132 cases at Whipps Cross (Harry Cohen MP), 123 cases at St George's Healthcare NHS Trust (Sadiq Kahn MP & Martin Linton MP) and 118 at Kingston Hospital (Ed Davey MP).

Other hospitals where cases of MRSA are on the increase include Newham University Hospital (Lyn Brown MP), Hillingdon Hospital (John Randall MP), and West Middlesex University Hospital (Ann Keen MP).

Many other London hospitals, while reducing the number of cases over previous years, still suffer a problem. And MPs would surely agree that even one superbug case is one too many.

So are these MPs going to vote to waste billions of pounds extra on the audit-failing EU - completely without justification - while their constituency hospital needs further investment to improve hygiene?

People are dying due to this hygiene problem. Can't the EU manage to get by on the £3.5bn a year (net) we already hand over every year? That's surely more than our fair share.